Most people know Christina Ricci as the child star who played Wednesday Addams in the 1991 Addams family movie. However, there’s much more to this Golden Globe nominee than her unconventional roles and dark-edged characters. Ricci’s talent and unique on-screen presence have earned her a dedicated fan following.
She’s also an activist and has been the national spokesperson for RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network) since 2007. In fact, Christina Ricci is one of many celebrities using her stardom to spread positive messages. Now, that’s a few interesting facts about her; here are a few more about Christina Ricca.
1. She’s Scottish-Irish With a Bit of Italian Ancestry
Ricci has quite a rich ancestral background. The star has a mix of Italian, Scottish, and Irish blood. She’s Italian on her father’s side — in fact, her paternal grandfather was Italian, hence the surname Ricci. Then there’s her paternal grandmother, Charlotte Mae Ryan, who was born in New York to Irish parents.
On the other hand, her maternal grandfather, Paul Stein Murdoch, is most likely Scottish. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and her grandmother, Mary Alice Keaveny is Irish. Ricci herself was born in Los Angeles and spent some of her childhood in Montclair, New Jersey. Being raised in America definitely makes her American in terms of lifestyle and citizenship. However, she still acknowledges that she is about 62.5% Irish and 25% Italian, with a little bit of Scottish and English in the mix.
2. A Theatre Critic Discovered Her
Ricci’s school play, Twelve Days of Christmas, was her path to the big screen. After deviously sneaking her way into a major role in her school’s production, she caught the attention of a local theatre critic. The critic went on to suggest that Ricci’s parents consider an acting career for her. Shortly after, she was featured in two SNL spoof commercials, and that feature earned her a SAG-AFTRA card. Ricci’s first feature in an actual movie came a year later when she was nine. The actress played Kate, the youngest daughter of Cher’s character in the movie Mermaids.
3. Christina Ricci Believes That Her Height Holds Her Back
Every artist has their insecurities, but only a few are bold enough to talk about them publicly. For Kate Moss, it’s her legs, Beyonce has mentioned her ears, and surprisingly, Rihanna is insecure about her cellulite. Needless to say, Ricci is in good company seeing as she’s not too pleased with her height. She has admitted that she feels her height is one of the reasons her career isn’t what she hoped it’d be.
As a 5″1 female who looks even smaller on camera, Ricci believes she can only go as far as Saving Grace’s Holly Hunter career-wise. While that’s not necessarily bad, she doesn’t think it’s remarkable. Nevertheless, there are other objective reasons why Ricci’s career may have stalled a bit. For instance, being typecast after her role as Wednesday may have limited her.
4. She Was Engaged to Owen Benjamin At Some Point
Comedian Owen Benjamin was once Ricci’s boyfriend, and eventually, they were engaged. The two met on the set of All’s Faire in Love in 2008 and went public with their relationship in October of that year. Not long after that, the pair announced their engagement. However, the couple broke it off after an argument at Owen’s birthday party in 2009, but sources say they are still friends. By all indications, the breakup was a mature and mutual agreement.
5. Christina Ricci Was Once Mark Ryden’s Muse
Ricci may not think she’s a big deal, but she has a solid fanbase, including famous folk. In fact, Mark Ryden, the famous pop surrealist painter, AKA the godfather of pop surrealism, took a serious interest in Ricci. He’s been named one of LA’s most important art couples alongside his wife. The famous painter draws inspiration from mysterious objects like skeletons, old toys, flea market finds, and stuffed animals. Unsurprisingly, he used Ricci for his art a few times. Her naturally dark and mysterious look is right up his alley.
Ricci has been featured in a few of Ryden’s popular oil paintings, like his Christina Ricci 1998 piece. The painting was essentially a caricature of Ricci in a yellow dress holding a giant bee. He has multiple pieces inspired by the actress and admitted in an interview with Noko that he’s a big fan of hers.
6. She Used To Wear Fur
First things first, Ricci no longer wears fur, but there’s a pretty solid reason behind that. After she wore an elegant reindeer fur coat for a holiday photo shoot, she was met with a harsh response. On the other end of that response was PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). They gave her a horrendous rating on their ‘worst dressed’ list.
Unfortunately for Ricci, the list had a horrible domino effect on her career. Fans blocked and withdrew their support for her after the whole saga. She wasted no time issuing an apology and releasing a statement promising never to wear fur again. Luckily for her, PETA removed her name from the list shortly after.
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