Christina Ricci rose to fame as a child star back in the '90s. Thanks to big projects like Casper and her iconic role as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family.
Now, the 42-year-old actress has a net worth of $18 million. Still, she has some regrets about that time in her career. Here are some things she would have done differently.
How Old Was Christina Ricci When She Started Acting?
Ricci started acting at age six without any formal training. She started out with commercials. Then in 1990, at nine years old, she made her film debut in Mermaids alongside Stranger Things actress Winona Ryder and Burlesque star Cher. The project opened plenty of doors for her in Hollywood. The following year, she appeared in her most recognized movie, The Addams Family. By the release of its 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values, Ricci was already a sought-after teen icon.
In 1997, she landed her first role as an adult actor in The Ice Storm. It established her credibility as an actress. But it was her comedy film the following year, Buffalo '66 that really showed her range. Despite her versatility, Ricci always gravitated toward dark roles. In 2001, she played a daring character in the psychological drama, Prozac Nation.
Two years later, she was praised by critics for her performance as the girlfriend of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster. In 2004, she had her directorial debut in The Speed Queen wherein she was also the leading lady. Ricci hasn't stopped acting since. However, she started doing fewer films until everyone thought she'd taken a break.
Why Did Christina Ricci Stop Doing Films?
There are multiple reasons for Ricci's absence from films. First, playing a cult character limited the parts available to her. Being typecast as a horror flick kid or a troubled teen didn't age well for her career. Second, she failed to reach A-list status due to her look.
"I'm five-one first thing in the morning, and I tend to look really small on camera," she once said in 2007. "I can probably go as far as Holly Hunter went, then I think that's going to be it. I have a feeling I am way too small."
Despite her good performance in Monster, Ricci was overshadowed by Charlize Theron's award-winning Wuornos.
"I like to think I also made a dramatic physical transformation, so it would hurt me a little bit when people said that," the mom-of-two said of the snub in 2010. "But from the very beginning I understood it was Charlize's passion project. I took the part of Selby knowing that I was going to be a supporting part of that experience, so it never seemed weird to me at the time."
Eventually, it all led to a dip in the actress' confidence. "I know that had I been thinner at the time my indie movies were hitting, I could've been in a much better position in my career," she confessed, noting that she still auditions for parts. "I have to say I still audition for movies. I don't really have as much control over my career as others would like to pretend that I do."
What Does Christina Ricci Regret About The '90s?
Recently, Ricci admitted that she made some career mistakes in the '90s. "This is very dark, but I would just like to go back to that age and do it over again and not make so many f------ mistakes," she explained. "Honestly, I regret so much. I'd like to go back to 1996 and be like, 'All right… we had a practice run. It went OK, but it wasn't really as great as we wanted it to be. We're going to do this again.' People who are like, 'I have no regrets.' What f------ magic life did you live?"
She also revealed that she used to get "horrible" punishment as a child. "I throw everything out," she shared. "I had a specific thing when I was a child, that we would be punished by the things that we loved being destroyed. My husband, who is a much healthier individual, has gone back and found all my old magazine covers on Etsy because he thinks it's horrible that I never saved them. As a child, I learned that this is going to be taken from me, so why save it anyway?"
Still, Ricci gets some kind of do-over as she revisits The Addams Family in the upcoming Netflix series, Wednesday.