Harlow Jane Once Thought Acting Was ‘Lame.’ Now Patricia Arquette’s Daughter Stars in One of Summer’s Hottest Shows
Harlow Jane Once Thought Acting Was ‘Lame.’ Now Patricia Arquette’s Daughter Stars in One of Summer’s Hottest Shows
Catherine SantinoMon, June 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
0
Harlow Jane in an ALICE + OLIVIA outfit, Loeffler Randall shoes, Pandora jewelry and Saint Laurent sunglasses.Credit: Celeste Sloman
It's a drizzly afternoon in New York City on-set with People StyleWatch, and Harlow Jane is wondering what she should do with her face.
"I don't know how to do that," she laughs when the photographer suggests a specific pose. The coastal-inspired set sees her in a variety of seaside scenarios: swinging her legs off of a wooden dock, steering a rowboat and even pushing a wheelbarrow full of faux hydrangeas.
The 23-year-old is gearing up for her first major role in the upcoming Peacock series The Five Star Weekend (based on the 2023 Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name). She plays Caroline Shaw, a film student and the daughter of famous food blogger Hollis Shaw (played by Jennifer Garner). In the aftermath of her husband's death, Hollis decides to host a weekend on Nantucket with girlfriends from different eras of her life (played by stars Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, D'Arcy Carden and Gemma Chan).
Harlow Jane in an ALICE + OLIVIA outfit, Loeffler Randall shoes, Pandora jewelry and Saint Laurent sunglasses.Credit: Celeste Sloman
Harlow may be a newcomer onscreen, but she's no stranger to being surrounded by great actors. Her mother is Oscar-winning actress Patricia Arquette, whose father, Lewis, was best known for his role on the 1970s television show The Waltons and mother, Brenda, worked as an actress and teacher.
Patricia's paternal grandfather, Cliff Arquette, was a famous radio host and comedian throughout the 1950s and '60s. All four of Patricia's siblings (Rosanna, Richmond, David and Alexis, who died in 2016) are also actors.
Harlow's father, Thomas Jane, is an actor known for his roles in films like The Punisher (2004), The Sweetest Thing (2002) and Deep Blue Sea (1999).
Despite her family's legacy, Harlow initially had no interest in Hollywood.
"I didn't really understand what [the industry] was," she says when she sits down for her PEOPLE interview. "I just knew my parents did it. So I didn't want to do it. I was like, 'Lame.' "
Joining the Family Business
For years Harlow didn't even realize her parents were famous, which she says is "probably a blessing." During an elementary-school career day, students were asked to do a drawing of what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"I was looking at other people's drawings," she says. "Everyone wanted to be a star. I was like, 'I'm not going to be like you people.' So, I drew this woman sitting at a desk, and I was like, 'I'm going to be a lawyer. I'm going to work a desk job.' So I went with that for years."
Harlow Jane in a Sézane dress and Pandora jewelry.Credit: Celeste Sloman
Later, visiting her mom on-set sparked an interest in acting, and the passion was solidified in a high school theater class. "I really liked it, much to my chagrin," says Harlow. "It feels pretty meditative when I'm getting to do it. It feels almost spiritual. That sounds so corny. But it does feel almost spiritual, and I wonder if maybe it's because my family's been doing it since the 1910s."
Harlow maintains her choice to enter the industry was hers entirely, and her family remained supportive but hands-off. "My mom was like, 'If you want to do it, you do it, but it's not my job to teach you how to do it or help you out in any way. You're going to figure this out on your own. It's going to be hard; you're going to cry. It's going to suck, and you're going to deal with it, if you really want that to work for you.' I was like, 'Okay.' "
The Breakout Role
Harlow says her early days of auditioning "sucked so bad," estimating that she went to five auditions a week for three years. While there have been small successes along the way (she starred as a younger version of her mom's character in an episode of AppleTV+'s High Desert and appeared in the 2023 film She Came to Me with Anne Hathaway), Harlow struck gold when she got the script for The Five Star Weekend.
"I don't think I've ever done a better audition," she says. After three months of radio silence, Harlow got word that she booked the part while driving back from Coachella with her two best friends.
Harlow Jane in an ALICE + OLIVIA outfit, Loeffler Randall shoes, Pandora jewelry and Saint Laurent sunglasses.Credit: Celeste Sloman
"We pull over to this gas station . . . and I get a phone call, and [my team] told me that I got it," she says. "Me and my friends, we were all holding hands. . . . It was the most beautiful drive home, because we all immediately started reading the book in the car, crying nonstop. We called everyone we knew."
"It was so nice that I got to experience that with my girls," she adds. "This show is so much about your female friendships. So it felt very kismet."
Her mom, it turned out, had been keeping her daughter's big news a secret. "I called my mom immediately, and she said, 'I already know.' They told her first. She was like, 'Thank God, I don't have to hide this from you. I knew a week ago, and I couldn't tell you.' And I was like, 'Girl. That's so mean.' "
Harlow recalls being "genuinely so terrified" of joining Garner and the rest of the superstar cast — but her fear dissipated after having lunch with Garner. "She has the most inviting, kind energy," Harlow says. "She's so calm. You know you're going to be okay if you make a mistake or whatever. So I, honestly, just felt like, 'Oh, you're my mom now.' . . . I just felt very safe with her, which was perfect and great, and that's what you would ask for out of any mom or scene partner. She was so kind to me."
Harlow Jane in a Sézane top, Buck Mason jeans, Stuart Weitzman shoes, Pandora rings and Bottega Veneta sunglasses. Boden jacket on fence.Credit: Celeste Sloman
The star adds that she learned so much simply from observing the way Garner works.
"The real wisdom was in her actions, the way that she treats her crew, her cast, everyone," she says. "The way that her kindness radiated toward everyone on that project, that's the biggest lesson for sure. It was really, really incredible to see. It's hard for a woman to be powerful and have a say in things, but also maintain a lot of your kindness and grace, and that was really important for me to watch."
Can't wait for the show — or obsessed with the book? Sign up to get more information about People Who Read, our new book club featuring fun exclusives including an author chat with Elin Hildebrand!
There was also plenty of bonding on the set of The Five Star Weekend. Harlow says she "had a blast" exploring all that Nantucket has to offer, from local food haunts (she gives a special shoutout to the chicken salad from Stubbys) to having a karaoke night with the cast.
"Everybody got up onstage. It was so fun," she says, before admitting, "But such a culture shock. I was so homesick that whole month. I had never really been away from home on a job that long. I was really homesick, but I had so much fun."
Harlow Jane in a Kate Spade dress, Loeffler Randall shoes and Pandora jewelry.Credit: Celeste SlomanStyle Star in Training
Harlow immersed herself in the coastal lifestyle on-set and off but now she's ready to get back to her own personal style.
"I'm very alternative, I guess," she says. "My style this summer is going to be Marie Antoinette, religious exile, Salome, Dance of the Seven Veils, but then also maybe some Deadhead in there, a little Stevie Nicks, that kind of a weird amalgamation of things. That's my plan for the summer."
Advertisement
She laughs and then adds, with all the casual wisdom of a cool older sister, that her summer plan also includes "being naked and gaining 10 lbs. and wearing sunscreen."
Perhaps her self-assuredness comes from her powerhouse star of a mom, whom Harlow clearly admires in more ways than one. "Her personal style is incredible," she gushes. "My mother has the best taste in the world with architecture, with clothing, with everything. She has taste on a different level, in my opinion."
Luckily, Patricia has allowed her daughter to borrow from her closet. "I've never loved my mother so much as when she said to me, 'You have no idea how many shoes I have for you,' " she says. "The shoes I've inherited, you don't even know. Vogue could run a special on these shoes that I have alone."
When it comes to the red carpet, Harlow says it's been "hard" to find her signature style. "When you're young and you're starting out, you really do not have a lot of control over your image or what you're wearing or anything like that," she explains. "I feel like that aspect of myself, I have not really had the opportunity to delve into, but I would wear anything as long as I like it. It could be a T-shirt dress. Whatever. As long as I like it."
Just the Beginning
With the premiere of The Five Star Weekend on July 6, Harlow's career is taking off. Her next project is something of a family affair: She's also set to appear in the upcoming movie Evil Genius, based on Netflix's 2018 documentary called Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist.
Harlow Jane in a COS top, Tory Burch skirt, Sam Edelman shoes, Pandora jewelry and Sézane tote.Credit: Celeste Sloman
The new narrative film is directed and produced by Harlow's aunt Courteney Cox and costars her mom, along with David Harbour, Michael Chernus, Garret Dillahunt, Danielle Macdonald, Tom McCarthy, Gregory Alan Williams, Ryan Eggold and Owen Teague. It follows Brian Wells's infamous "pizza bomber" case, which involved an FBI investigation that uncovered a complex robbery and murder scheme.
Despite her family connection, Harlow asked if she could audition and earn the role. "I don't want it if it's not right," she says. Her part involves a small scene in a flashback but required her to learn how to roller-skate.
Harlow Jane in a Sézane dress, Aritizia hat and Pandora jewelry.Credit: Celeste Sloman
"I was like, 'Why didn't you tell me that when I agreed to this that I had to roller-skate for 12 hours a day?' " the actress jokes. "It was a lot of fun, and I love the relationship that I have with Courteney. She's still my aunt." (Harlow's uncle David Arquette was married to Cox from 1999 to 2013, and the two share a daughter, Coco, 22.) "The relationship that me, Coco, Courteney and my mom have, we all have these nice girl dates together, and it's really sweet."
Harlow maintains that this season of her life is busy. After filming The Five Star Weekend, she had a brief break before diving into a short film and then Evil Genius. She's currently filming an upcoming AppleTV+ series, The Off Weeks, which costars Ben Stiller and Jessica Chastain.
"I've been happily working. Thank God. Amen," she says, before admitting: "It's a very short turnaround, and I think I burnt myself out a little bit."
"But I want to go again now," she continues. "I'm still ready to work. It's been a lot of traveling, a lot of learning and lots of mistakes and lots of falling on my face, but it's good. It's great."
Harlow Jane in a Emilia Wickstead dress, Aritzia socks, Hunter boots, Jennifer Behr earrings and Pandora rings.Credit: Celeste Sloman
As she embarks on her career, Harlow will inevitably face critics who brand her as a nepo baby and nothing more. She says she's "indifferent" about the title but acknowledges the realities of the industry. "There are a lot of people that get opportunities because of who they were raised around," she muses. "It's also true for every career on earth, unfortunately."
Her mom, however, was "really worried" about her daughter being perceived in a certain way, but much like learning to roller-skate or standing on her own among an all-star cast, Harlow is choosing to focus her energy on the work.
"I'm like, 'I had no choice over what vagina I came out of. Seriously, I have no choice. I didn't choose to be born to you. I just am, and this is my life.' "
While she's had roles offered to her from family friends, she says it "doesn't feel good" to accept them without earning it. "I got to a point when I was 18 or 19 where I was like, 'I don't ever want to be somewhere where I don't truly feel like I deserve it,' " she recalls, becoming emotional. "Like, I worked for it, I got it for myself. And so that's where I'm at. And I feel very proud of that, honestly."
"I don't know. Whatever," she adds, doubting herself for only the slightest of seconds before concluding, "I'm proud of it."
Harlow Jane on the cover of People StyleWatch in a COS top, Tory Burch skirt, Pandora jewelry and Sézane tote.Credit: Celeste SlomanCREDITS
Photographer:Celeste Sloman
Film videographer:Jonathan Heller
Interview DP:Eric Brouse
Set design:Wanted PD
Hair:Dawson Hiegert / Oribe / Forward Artists
Makeup: Dani Parkes / Maybelline / The Wall Group
Manicurist:Yukie Miyakawa / Chanel Le Vernis / See Management
Stylist:Jenna Brillhart
On-set stylist assistant:Sara Stuhl / Zenobia
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
