Christina Ricci Picture 7

Biography

Christina Ricci has been blessed with a career that has allowed her to bypass the former child-star tag and move instead, like Thora Birch, into the "we've watched her grow up onscreen" arena.

Christina, the youngest of four siblings, was born in Santa Monica on February 12th, 1980. When she was seven her family packed up and moved to the East Coast, settling in Montclair, New Jersey. While performing in a show at school, Christina was noticed by a local movie critic who was so taken by her talent that he persuaded her parents to find her an agent. Before long the Ricci's youngest child was shooting commercials.

Shortly after she started her TV work, Christina landed the role of Cher's daughter in 1990's Mermaids. Working alongside Winona Ryder and Bob Hoskins, the young performer held her own. A year later she really hit the public radar when she played Wednesday in Barry Sonnenfeld's film version of The Addams Family. She followed that hit with roles in Now and Then (playing a younger version of Rosie O'Donnell's character), Casper and other forgettable flicks like The Secret of Bear Mountain, The Last of the High Kings and (ugh) a remake of That Darn Cat in 1997.

She could have faded off the map at that point but her next 1997 role was in director Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. Her performance was widely praised and critic James Berardinelli called her "one of the best actresses of her generation." A string of independent films followed that performance. Roles in Pecker, I Woke Up Early the Day I Died and Desert Blue allowed her to work on her craft out of the mainstream limelight but that limelight found her again when she received critical acclaim for her roles in Buffalo '66 and The Opposite of Sex for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe.

In 2000, Christina appeared in a big studio film, Sleepy Hollow, opposite Johnny Depp. She noticed that the big budget publicity machine acts differently than the indie scene, noting that the ads enlarged her breasts to be wider than her shoulders. She returned to the indie scene again in 2001, starring in Prozac Nation, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Christina also had a recurring role on TV's Ally McBeal in its final season.

Filmography

Adrenalynn (2003) .... Adrenalynn
Anything Else (2003)
Borgia (2003) .... Lucrezia Borgia
Speed Queen, The (2003) .... Marjorie Standiford
Gathering, The (2002)
Miranda (2002) .... Miranda
Pumpkin (2002) .... Carolyn McDuffy
Laramie Project, The (2002) .... Romaine Patterson
"Ally McBeal" (1997) TV Series .... Liza Bump (2002)
2001 MTV Movie Awards (2001) (TV) .... Presenter
Moby: Play - The DVD (2001) (V) (uncredited) .... Angel
Prozac Nation (2001) .... Elizabeth Wurtzel
All Over the Guy (2001) .... Rayna
Orange British Academy Film Awards, The (2001) (TV) .... Herself
Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend (2000) (V) .... Herself/Katrina Anne Van Tassel
Man Who Cried, The (2000) .... Suzie
... aka The man who cried - Les larmes d'un homme (2001) (France)
Bless the Child (2000) .... Cherry
... aka Prophezeiung, Die (2000) (Germany)

Sleepy Hollow (1999) .... Katrina Anne Van Tassel
No Vacancy (1999) .... Lillian
200 Cigarettes (1999) .... Val
Pecker (1998) .... Shelley
Souvenir (1998) (voice) .... Young Orlando
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) .... Teenage Hooker
... aka Ed Wood's I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
... aka I Awoke Early the Day I Died (1999) (USA)
Desert Blue (1998) .... Ely Jackson
Small Soldiers (1998) (voice) .... Gwendy Doll
Opposite of Sex, The (1998) .... Dedee Truitt/Narrator
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) .... Lucy
Buffalo '66 (1998) .... Layla, aka Wendy Balsam
Little Red Riding Hood (1997) .... Little Red Riding Hood
Ice Storm, The (1997) .... Wendy 'Charles' Hood
That Darn Cat (1997) .... Patti Randall
Last of the High Kings, The (1996) .... Erin
... aka Summer Fling (1998) (USA: video title)
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) .... Dee Dee
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) .... Beth Easton
Now and Then (1995) .... Young Roberta Martin
Casper (1995) .... Kathleen 'Kat' Harvey
Addams Family Values (1993) .... Wednesday Addams
Cemetery Club, The (1993) .... Jessica
... aka Looking for a Live One (1993)
Addams Family, The (1991) .... Wednesday Addams
Hard Way, The (1991) .... Bonnie
Mermaids (1990) .... Kate Flax