Christina Ricci says unhelpful questions made her 'obnoxious' as child star

03 May 2023 , 19:42

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Christina Ricci has spoken about having been a child actor, recalling that she was asked 'unhelpful' questions in interviews and saying she learned to deal with rejection in the industry.

The actor, 43, made her film debut when she was around nine years old, starring alongside Cher, now 76, in the comedy-drama Mermaids, which was released in 1990.

Her breakout role came shortly afterwards when she portrayed Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (1991). She reprised the role in sequel Addams Family Values (1993).

Christina - who recently appeared in Netflix 's Wednesday, though not in the titular role - later starred in projects like Casper (1995) and more recently in the show Yellowjackets.

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Christina Ricci spoke about her career whilst a guest on a podcast recently (The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

She has now reflected on having rose to fame when she was a child, speaking about her decades-long career whilst whilst a guest on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast.

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Podcast host Josh Smith suggested there's sometimes a negative view around child stars, who may be expected to go "off the rails" or be considered "too young" for fame.

Addressing the suggestion, Christina said: "People don't just live in their careers. Whatever's going on in their personal lives and who they are [...] has so much do it with it."

Christina Ricci says unhelpful questions made her 'obnoxious' as child star

She continued: "Some people deal better with fame than other people. [Some] have more supportive families than other people. And I do think that having a 'famous child' is a weird pressure to put on a child.

"I think it's - and I always thought this when I was younger - being asked questions about who I was before I knew who I was, I knew that that was not helpful as a kid, which is probably why I was so obnoxious in interviews all the time."

Christina said that in her experience colleagues that she has worked with who have been former child actors themselves have been "the most professional people on set".

She added: "They are the people that understand the sacrifices that are gonna have to be made [...] They're always the most prepared, they're always the most adaptable".

Her other credits include the film Casper (1995) (Rex)

It was also suggested during the interview that having started her acting career at such an early age helped Christina to deal with being rejected for certain roles.

The award-winning actor said about her experience in the industry: "I started auditioning for things at the age of seven. So I had to, at that age, learn to just let go of it".

Christina said her mother explained that she had "so little control" over casting directors. She added: "[So] I think professionally I'm actually very good at being rejected.

"You might be like p****d off for an afternoon or a day, but I've never been somebody who lets it like destroy me [because] as an actor, it just happens a million times a month."