Movies
Christina Ricci interview
One of the few Hollywood stars to have successfully made the transition from child performer to grown-up actress, Christina Ricci has certainly come a long way from her roles in Mermaids and The Addams Family. These days she's more likely to be found playing Charlize Theron's lesbian lover in Monster, Jason Bigg's girlfriend in Anything Goes or - as in new horror romp Cursed - a sexual predator driven mad by a werewolf's bite. Virgin.net caught up with her, only 25 years old and already a screen veteran...
VM: What attracted you to the role of Ellie in Cursed?
Christina Ricci: After Monster I wanted to do something a bit lighter. I thought it would be fun to do a big horror film in LA for three months. And it was great to work with Joshua Jackson. He's been working for as long as I have. It's great to work with someone where everything is as familiar to them as it is to you; you're both sort of old hands at it.
VM: What are the factors that draw you to a particular project?
Christina Ricci: There are so many variables. Either it's a director I've always wanted to work with or a story I love or someone I've always wanted to play. Or it could be a location I've always wanted to go to, or a genre I've never worked in. It's more of my agent's job to think about what the movie is going to do for my career.
VM: Having achieved so much at such a young age, how do you regard your career now?
Christina Ricci: I don't know. I think I've had a great time so far, and I've had a chance to work with so many wonderful, talented people. I kind of learned from the best - Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, people like that. But I guess it's going to be different now. I suppose now I will have an adult career and I don't know what that is going to be like - especially because I only just became an adult officially!
VM: Do you have any advice for the young stars following in your footsteps?
Christina Ricci: I think the attention that's paid to them these days is so much more intense than when I was their age, so I don't know how they deal with that. I would just say, never pick up a magazine. When I was a teenager I would never read any articles, and I still don't. A normal person wouldn't have that much input on who they were or what they were like, so I feel the best thing is to live your life as if it wasn't happening.
VM: You've been around longer than they have, though. Do you see yourself as a bit of a veteran?
Christina Ricci: I think that is so hysterical, because I couldn't be a bigger naive little kid. People are always surprised when they hang out with me for a period of time and see I'm like a silly little frivolous girl...
