Ricci goes bowling with Vincent Gallo in the 1998 Buffalo '66

“Everyone Wants to Be A Producer”

Since her debut in Mermaids, Ricci has been steadily at work. She has four new films awaiting release, two of which Ricci also produced: Prozac Nation based on the best-selling book by Elizabeth Wurtzel and Adrenalin, a big budget action picture co-produced with Joel Silver. “I knew when I was ten years old that I wanted to be a producer,” Ricci says. “I get a power high, I have to admit. It’s nice to look at the set and know you hired everyone.”

Child Star Grows Up

According to Ricci, there is no recipe for her successful transition from child star to teen actress to the adult roles she is offered today. “I think it was luck,” she says with a shrug. “I just kept working and as I got older, the parts got older.”

More than anything else, Ricci wants to keep working. Perhaps this desire explains her eclectic filmography, which includes a series of indie films that have cast Ricci as a sexy pregnant vixen in Don Roos’ The Opposite of Sex, an avid Laundromat manager in cult master John Water’s Pecker, and a lingerie-clad tap dancer in Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo 66.

More of this Feature • Part 1: Rooting Around Like Pigs

Related Resources • More articles • Christina Ricci Links • Johnny Depp Links • Indie Queen Poster Quiz • Who's the It Girl?

Elsewhere on the Web • The Man Who Cried

“I love big budget,” Ricci says, eyes wide. “I love special effects. I love that stuff.” She happily promotes The Man Who Cried, but the film that seems to most excites Ricci is the action packed Adrenaline.

An L.A. Girl With A Hobby

Ricci’s calls her performance in the The Man Who Cried “a big jump.” She isn’t surprised by her progress as an actress. “It’s like a pink room,” she says. “You put someone in a pink room, and then you think, yeah, I can see that person in a pink room.”

But still, her performance is a surprise. The actress in the interview (bobbed hair with red highlights, blue jeans, and stilletto heels) was a world away from brooding, sad dark haired Suzie in traditional Forties clothes. Despite rumors in the press of personal difficulties including weight troubles, depression, and drinking, Ricci’s confidence rings clear and true. A hard working actress and an ambitious producer seemingly at peace in her high-power, high profile world. Shopping is Ricci’s favorite hobby (“It’s pathetic but true,” she sighs) and Ricci lives in the right place: Los Angeles.

“I love L.A.,” Ricci says. “Oh yeah, I love it. It's just a city, it's not like the devil.”

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