Don’t overlook Ricci’s reach
“Whenever I do interviews, people are always like, ‘So, you have dark tastes,’ ” complains Christina Ricci.
“Which always strikes me as funny. A few things I’ve done reflect that, but I was a child then, and that sort of dark, Goth thing just reminds me of being a teenager. I sort of wish people wouldn’t think of me that way anymore.”
Indeed, “The Addams Family” was 16 years ago, and since then Ricci, 27, has done a variety of work, from Vincent Gallo‘s arthouse “Buffalo 66” to Woody Allen’s comic “Anything Else” to the serial-killer tale “Monster.”
She spends most of her new film, “Black Snake Moan,” as a nymphomaniac chained to Samuel L. Jackson‘s radiator.
Q. This year you brought “Black Snake Moan” to the (Sundance) festival, and it seemed as if it was going to push a lot of hot buttons. But when you see it, the real shackles that Rae wears are invisible. The chain is almost a metaphor.
A. You could definitely see it that way. Rae’s main problem is that, like so many other young women who’ve been sexually abused, she’s suffering from post-traumatic stress and so she’s stuck in this place she’s been since a child. She is a child, really, because she was never allowed to emotionally mature. … Rae is a little microcosm of how women are exploited in our society. Although now, I think, it’s more a case of women exploiting themselves.
Q: If a woman exploits herself, though, is it still exploitation? The Pussycat Dolls would claim it’s empowerment.
A: Well, sex is powerful, and I can understand women saying, “Now we’re going to make it our power.” But you have to be aware that there are young girls who don’t realize the context, don’t realize you’re “taking back the night” or whatever, just that suddenly “It’s cool to dress like a stripper” and “Maybe I should get a Playboy bunny bikini wax?” And to me that’s insane.
Q: When you were a girl, how did you cope with being an actress? It seems that, as sensitive as you need to be as a performer, you’re working in an industry which is almost …
A: Callous? Well, very early on, my mother told me this is a fickle business – it’s all based on what one person wants at one moment. And I still really feel that. … But you know, they either hire you or they don’t. And the next week somebody wants something else.
Q: Do you feel a special empathy for the young actresses out there now?
A: Oh, definitely. It’s hard enough to be a teenager as it is, and there’s so much more media attention now than even when I was younger. With all the gossip and everything, it’s like the whole world has become one big high school.
The birthday bunch
Actor Michael Warren (“Soul Food,” “Hill Street Blues”) is 61. Magician Penn Jillette is 52. Actress Eva Mendes is 29. Actor Jake Lloyd (“Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace”) is 18.