Christina Ricci interview: ‘Yellowjackets’ and ‘Wednesday’
“The thing I love the most about playing Misty is that she’s really somebody who has accepted the fact that she’s never going to be accepted,” says Emmy-nominated “Yellowjackets” star Christina Ricci. “She still has those compulsions that she cannot ignore. The compulsive need to try to be accepted. The compulsive need to go after someone and see if they will be her friend. But I think deep down she understands who she is and the position that she’s been given. Because of that, I don’t think she really understands societal norms.” Watch our video interview above.
Season 2 of “Yellowjackets” is currently airing on Showtime. Ricci’s role as Misty Quigley earned her a Best Supporting Actress Emmy nomination last year. It was one of seven bids for the series including Best Drama Series.
SEE Christina Ricci poised to make Emmys history with bids for ‘Yellowjackets’ and ‘Wednesday’
“She’s so emotionally stunted, that to be able to play this childish character as a 40-year old woman is pretty fun,” she says. The role allows the actress to lean into her comedy chops, which she has never felt confident in having. “I’ve never considered myself funny,” she says. “In the 2000s, when I was in my 20s, they were always sending us actresses in for comedies. They would say, ‘They just need you to go in the room. They want to see if you’re funny.’ I never left any of those rooms with anyone thinking I was funny. Ever! So I just never considered myself to be a comic actress, but I do see the humor in life. I also understand the way that a character like Misty creates her own fun in life.”
Ricci also has a supporting role on the hit Netflix comedy “Wednesday,” starring Jenna Ortega in the titular role that she played the 1990s films “The Addams Family” and “Addams Family Values.” It also reunites her with director Tim Burton. “I was so excited to work with Tim again,” she reveals. “I think I was 19 when we made ‘Sleepy Hollow.’ I loved working with him then, but I’m such a huge fan of his actual work. His movies are some of my favorite movies of all time. It was different dynamic than the first time we worked together because I was 19. Now I’m 43. It was more like two adults instead of an adult and a teenager. He’s so brilliant. You feel so safe in his hands.”
The actress also found her dual character roles of Marilyn Thornhill/Laurel Gates fitting. “It makes sense in a very meta way for me to be the villain. To be the one trying to kill her,” Ricci says. “I like playing things that are just a little bit heightened and tweaked. “She represents old-fashioned ideas that are trying to destroy youth and progress. It made sense that you would have the old Wednesday trying to kill the new Wednesday. That was really smart and clever.”
Ricci also reminisces about her breakout role in the 1990 film “Mermaids” with Cher and Winona Ryder. “From the first moment they were so lovely to me,” she remembers. “Cher was just so cool. She educated me about what was going on. I knew nothing about filmmaking. She was incredible. It was an incredible education.”
