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David Arquette Is a Bloody Mess

Thu., Mar. 20, 2008 1:18 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Courteney Cox, Jeff Vespa, David Arquette

Todd Williamson/WireImage.com

If Courteney Cox hadn't known any better, she may have ended up calling 911 for hubby David Arquette after he wrapped the short film Nosebleed.

In the flick, Arquette plays a man whose nose won't stop bleeding after he looks at a photo of a woman we assume is an ex-love of some sort.

Arquette had a sponge soaked in fake blood in one and sometimes both of his nostrils during most of the shoot. "He had to shove this blood up his nose for like 12 hours a day," says celebrity photographer and first-time director Jeff Vespa. "It was gooey and disgusting. David was like, 'Dude, I was coughing up blood for like a week afterward.' "

Vespa likes to joke that he didn't cast Arquette just for his acting chops. "Have you seen the man's nose?" Vespa cracks. "Seriously—the nose is a key part of this."

Arquette, Cox, Rosanna Arquette, Rosario Dawson, Elizabeth Berkley and Mena Suvari were among the 500 or so who hit the movie's Hollywood premiere last night at the Mann Chinese 6 theaters, followed by a party at Teddy's at the nearby Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.