Christina Ricci

August 26, 8:11 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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CHRISTINA RICCI

Small of stature but big of heart, actress Christina Ricci won us over as a child with her droll portrayal of Wednesday Addams ... she seems to determined to woo our affections again as an adult.

Christina Ricci was born on February 12th, 1980 in Santa Monica, California -- she is the youngest child of four, born to Ralph Ricci, a lawyer and psychiatrist, and Sarah Murdoch, a real estate agent and former Ford model.  After the family moved to Montclair, New Jersey, Christina attended Edgemont Elementary School, Glenfield Middle School, and Montclair High School, before moving to New York to study acting at New York’s Professional Children’s School.

After winning over a critic while performing in a school play at age 8, Christina soon began getting commercial work -- she made her big screen debut at the age of 10 in Mermaids (1990), starring Cher and Winona Ryder.  A year later, the diminutive actress was cast as the precociously morbid Wednesday Addams in the big screen version of The Addams Family (1991).  Christina’s wry sense of humor and mature-beyond-her-years sensibilities, nearly stole the picture from her costars.  By the time the 1993 sequel Addams Family Values came around, Christina was given substantially more screen time, and this time she did steal the picture.  That same year, Christina's parents divorced -- she hasn't spoken to her father since.

By the mid-90s, Christina was in great demand, and her next project, Casper (1995) saw her take the lead role.  The film didn’t get great reviews, but was a big hit with audiences.  This was quickly followed by Now and Then (1995), Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995), Little Red Riding Hood (1997), and a remake of Disney’s That Darn Cat (1997).

CHRISTINA RICCI - ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (1993)

After this, Christina began taking more adult roles -- like the troubled and sexually-curious Wendy in Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997), Vincent Gallo’s abductee-turned-girlfriend in Buffalo ‘66 (1998), and the sharp-witted and manipulative Dede in The Opposite of Sex (1998).  For this last, Christina was nominated for a Golden Globe, but was snubbed by Oscar ... a faux pas loudly lambasted by many critics and magazines.  Continuing to work largely in indie fare, Christina next appeared in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Pecker (1998), 200 Cigarettes (1999), and No Vacancy (1999).

Christina returned to big-budget fare when Tim Burton cast her opposite Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow (1999).  Starting her own production company, Blaspheme Films, Christina went on to produce and star in Prozac Nation (2001) and Pumpkin (2002).  After doing some television work on shows like Malcolm in the Middle and Ally McBeal, Christina starred as the female lead in Woody Allen’s Anything Else (2003).  She immediately followed up that casting coup with a costarring role in Monster (2003), opposite Charlize Theron.  When Charlize went on to win a Best Actress Oscar for the film, she acknowledged Christina in her acceptance speech, calling her the movie’s “unsung hero.”  In 2006, Christina received an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance she made on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

CHRISTINA RICCI IN BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2007)

In 2007, Christina took on the most difficult role of her career in Black Snake Moan, playing a deeply troubled nymphomaniac who is left for dead on a roadside.  She is rescued by Samuel L. Jackson, who takes her home, tends her wounds, and (doing what he believes is the will of God) chains her to his radiator until she is cured of her soul sickness.  Christina lost much weight for the film, ate only non-nutritional food to maintain her sickly appearance, and actually wore a 40-pound steel chain around the set.  The film was sold as exploitation, but was, in fact, a very tender story about redemption.  Christina said this about that: “The way that movie was marketed was probably one of the most disappointing and upsetting things that's ever happened to me in my career.  I have no interest in exploiting women any further than they've already been exploited.  All they [the marketing department] cared about was college-age boys going to see it.”  Because of her experiences making this film, Christina became the national spokesperson for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network for the United States, which assists victims of such crimes and promotes prevention.  Black Snake Moan received mixed reviews (although many critics called it one of the best of 2007), and did not do well at the box office.  A shame -- this film is a way underrated gem.

2008 should have fared much better for the actress, with the release of Penelope (filmed in 2006, about a girl born with a pig nose), and the big-budget Speed Racer.  Neither did well, but at least Penelope made a profit -- Speed Racer, the Wachowski Brothers’ cinematic confection of the animé classic, did not ... to put it mildly.

In 2009, Christina had a recurring role on the TNT crime drama Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter.

CHRISTINA RICCI

Though she was briefly engaged to actor Owen Benjamin, Christina is single and lives in the LA suburb Silverlake with her 3 dogs.  Christina has many film projects in the works, and if she isn’t careful, she may just end up being the superstar we all knew she would be.

Up next: Long Time Gone (2009), New York, I Love You (2009), After.Life (2010), Born to Be a Star (2010), Alpha and Omega (2010), The Hero of Color City (2010).

Christina Ricci Quotes:

“If I hadn't gone into acting, I would have been one of those weird runaways on Hollywood Boulevard.  No, it'd be uglier.  I'd probably be dead.”

"I am a Christian.  I haven't really talked about that before.  It is something very private.  But I do pray and my beliefs are very important to me."

“I spend a lot of time with my mother.  When I'm doing movies, she's always with me.  We spend days being bored in an apartment together waiting for someone to call and say I'm needed for a shot.  Because we're together so much, we have to get along.  We have to find ways to get to know each other.  We've gone through a lot of stuff, you know, and I think we're pretty close.”

“I don't have any training, and I don't believe in training.  Of course, people who don't have any training always say that.”

Regarding Marilyn Manson’s band: "I hate the things they preach.  They found a gimmick that sells.  The fact that they're making money off all these teenage kids who actually believe in their message is disgusting."

CHRISTINA RICCI

“For years, I hated myself.  I covered the mirrors in my house.  I literally couldn't have a mirror in my room.  I still can't sit in a restaurant or someplace where I can catch my reflection.  I get so paranoid.”

“I certainly hope I'm not still answering child-star questions by the time I reach menopause.”

“I like playing people who are so afraid and ashamed of who they are and so disgusted by everyone around them that they decide to become the ultimate extreme of what they're afraid they are.”

“I think the main reason a lot of child stars don't make it is that it's hard to see someone as cute and then all of a sudden see them as having more depth.  I guess I was just lucky that, when I was little, nobody thought I was that cute.”

Regarding her crush on Josh Hartnett: "I know he's got a girlfriend, but I could so corrupt him.  He would be a hot date, and that is what I need right now.  I have met him, so I know what I am talking about here.  He's a nice, home-loving boy with a great body and great eyes.  And when he reads this, he's probably going to run a mile."

“My first kiss was with the most chivalrous little boy I ever met in my life.  It was in kindergarten.  There was this kid who was really a jerk, and he wouldn't let me get on the school bus.  He was about to hit me when this little boy named Nicky shoved me down, stood up and took the blow.  So Nicky instantly became the kindergarten stud.  The day he got hit for me, I lined up all the little girls, and everyone kissed him.  That was my way of thanking him.” 

CHRISTINA RICCI

“I'm not mainstream-looking.  I'm not very skinny.  I'm not ... like ... beautiful.  The point of mainstream movies is to cast someone that everyone is going to love.  Because of my persona, I'm controversial.  I don't do anything in my real life to deserve that.  I don't drink, I don't do drugs.  But studio people don't want to put me in their movies.  They think I might offend.”

“Everybody asked, 'How do you feel about playing a bitch?'  And I'd say, 'If you knew anything about human nature, you'd realize that for this girl, being like that is a total front for being unhappy.’ “

“I got ugly.  Throughout my childhood, my favorite rejection was 'She looks too healthy.'  They wanted that really gaunt, runaway girl kind of look.  I was like, 'Mom, I thought you could never be too healthy.'  She said, 'Ignore them'.”

“I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to play catch up or being halfheartedly enthusiastic about a project.  I really want to do things that actually make me happy, instead of feeling like I'm whoring myself out.  So I'm really considering doing television, because I'd probably get to play a much more satisfying role on a regular basis, as opposed to getting one great part every couple of years.”

“Remember who you are.  It's really okay to be who you are.”