Christina Ricci

Childhood and youth

On February 12, 1980 (zodiac sign - Aquarius), Italian-American Ralph Ricci and his wife Sarah Murdoch had a daughter, who was named Christina. The future actress was the youngest of four children. The girl grew up and was raised in a very unusual family who lived in Santa Monica, a suburb of Los Angeles.

In the past, the mother of the future actress worked as a fashion model, and then changed her profession to a more mundane one and became a realtor. In her youth, Sarah was slender and thin and constantly dreamed that her naturally plump youngest daughter would eventually also acquire a model appearance and shine on the covers of glossy magazines. Therefore, except for Christina’s diet, which included a minimum of desserts, Murdoch did not care about anything in the child’s life.

Christina's father was also a peculiar person. Before becoming a lawyer, Ralph worked as a psychoanalyst at home. Moreover, he cured his patients using an unconventional technique - scream therapy. Therefore, Ralph brought home clients who wanted to get rid of phobias and depression.

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A post shared by Christina Ricci (@riccigrams) on Sep 16, 2018 at 10:45am PDT

Christina Ricci in childhood
Ricci conducted similar therapy in the office, which was located opposite little Christina’s room. That is why, as a child, the future actress was known as a misanthrope and did not like people. But it is possible that this worldview was also influenced by the divorce of her parents: when the girl turned 13, Sarah and Ralph terminated the marriage contract.

In order not to hear the “healing” screams, Christina climbed out onto the roof at night, but Ralph and Sarah perceived their daughter’s behavior differently: it seemed to them that their girl was a dreamy person who loved to admire the stars and the night sky. By the way, Ricci sometimes parodied the dialogues she heard in front of her mother.

After moving to New Jersey, Christina had to go to Glenfield School. To win a place in the sun in a new educational institution, she attracted attention to herself in an extraordinary way - she climbed up to the school bullies and pissed them off. The cocky girl didn’t fight back, but she loved to complain to her parents and teachers about the mischief-makers.

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Personal life

In love relationships, Christina was a flighty girl: her affairs did not last longer than three months, because Ricci often deceived her admirers in order to add a dramatic note to life. According to rumors, the actress met with director Adam Goldberg, but the relationship soon failed. The next lover was comedian Owen Benjamin. In 2009, the young people announced their engagement, but after 2 months they broke it off. Then she had an affair with Chris Evans for six months, but it also ended in nothing.

In 2013, it became known that the girl gave her hand and heart to James Heerdegen. They met in 2011 on the set of the TV series Pan America, where James worked as a technical assistant to the cameraman. Two years later, he became the actress’s husband, and soon news appeared on the Internet that Ricci was pregnant, although the couple tried to hide the fact of an imminent addition to the family for as long as possible. In 2014, the lovers had a son, the boy was named Freddie.

Christina Ricci Asks for Full Custody of Son Amid Divorce From James Heerdegen, via Celebrity News - Us Weekly https://ift.tt/31Pebzp
Published by Gossip World Monday, July 6, 2021

Christina Ricci and her husband James Heerdegen
The next time news about Christina's personal life appeared on the Internet in early July 2021. Information leaked onto the Internet about the actress’s call to the police with a complaint against her own husband about violence. The man was arrested and prohibited from approaching his wife or contacting her in any other way. This news left fans of the celebrity confused, since previously there was no information that there was discord, quarrels and assault in the Ricci family.

It is known that in 2000, the artist decided to undergo a rather unusual operation. While other girls secretly dreamed of a full bust, Christina, on the contrary, reduced her breasts. Fans note that the before and after photos differ significantly, but Ricci was satisfied because, according to her, men will finally look into her eyes.

In her free time, the celebrity loves to lie in front of the TV, watch movies or listen to her favorite band Red Hot Chili Peppers. She also loves pets: Ricci has dogs, and she often posts photos of pets on Instagram. And her slender figure allows her to show off photographs in a swimsuit, from vacations or photo shoots without embarrassment.

The court banned Christina Ricci's husband from approaching the actress and her son

Actress Christina Ricci's representative obtained a restraining order against TV producer James Herdegen, who filed for divorce in July 2021.

The restraining order requires the producer to stay at least 91 meters (100 yards) away from Christina and her son. Herdegen was also forbidden to have any contact with them.

The reason was that Ricci feared for his life. According to the star, during quarantine, Herdegen repeatedly used violence against her. In particular, the documents mention two cases of attack on the actress in July. The first time Herdegen used force against Ricci was after she wanted to call the police during one of their arguments. The man caught up with the actress, grabbed her wrists and dragged her into the yard, where he threw her into the fireplace, leaving bruises and cuts on her body.

During the second quarrel, the star claims, Herdegen spat on her, after which he threw a coffee mug and a chair at her. Ricci's lawsuit says this happened in the presence of their six-year-old son, who witnessed the man's aggression. The actress emphasized that after the introduction of quarantine, the producer “focused solely on punishing and scaring her 24 hours a day.” According to Ricci, she was afraid to sleep at night.

According to the case file, Ricci fears that such behavior on Herdegen's part could pose a threat to her life. During one car ride in late 2021, she claims his words made her believe he could kill her.

“He said the only way he could feel pity for me was if I was dismembered into little pieces,” she said.

Ricci emphasized that after this conversation, she hid all the knives in the house where they spent their vacation together.

Because Herdegen left the dog tied to the coffee table during meetings with their son, the restraining order also states that the man must not approach the animal.

Ricci also noted that Herdegen began using violence against her from the moment he learned about her pregnancy in October 2013. She claims that the producer may release personal audio and video files in order to “humiliate and disgrace” her or as blackmail. It is reported that the actress would like to ban him from publishing these files and force him to return them to her.

Herdegen's representative said he plans to file a counterclaim in court demanding that she be banned from approaching the producer. He promised to provide detailed information about her aggression while under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

“His documents will also indicate that Ms. Ricci told law enforcement officials in December 2019 that there was no previous history of domestic violence in their family, which calls into question her credibility,” the lawyer said.

He noted that Herdegen fundamentally denies all allegations of violence against Ricci against her.

Movies

Ricci's filmography includes many roles in films that have gone down in the history of world cinema over time. For example, it is difficult to find a movie fan who has not at least heard about Casper (1995), where Ricci took the place of the main character along with Devon Sawa, Bill Pullman and Cathy Moriarty, or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ( 1998).

It is worth saying that Christina does not and never has had any special acting education, and the actress herself does not see the point in it. She admitted that she worked on the film set intuitively.

Ricci's creative biography began by accident. When the girl was 8 years old, at Christmas she performed on the stage of the school theater. By a happy coincidence, a talented person attracted the attention of a famous film critic, who advised her parents to direct their daughter towards a creative path. Therefore, in her free time, Sarah took her children to agencies and castings, hoping that they would be useful in the future.

Christina starred in a feature film for the first time in 1990, in Richard Benjamin’s film “Mermaids.” It is noteworthy that on the set the girl became friends with Cher. Despite the impressive age difference, Ricci considers her his friend all his life. In 1991, Christina starred in the black comedy “The Addams Family,” the plot of which tells the story of the life of infernal witchcraft relatives.

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A post shared by Christina Ricci (@riccigrams) on Sep 22, 2018 at 6:08am PDT

Christina Ricci in her youth
According to rumors, the creator of the gothic film did not even want to take Ricci to audition, because in the role of Wednesday Addams he saw a sophisticated and aristocratic nature, and not a girl with plump cheeks and an upturned nose. But Cher taught Christina that the main thing in acting is to force yourself to remember. So she ran towards Barry Sonnenfeld, knocked him to the floor and grabbed his arm with her teeth. After such an eccentric act by the applicant, the famous director was unable to give the role of this gloomy character to another girl.

It is noteworthy that after the premiere of The Addams Family, Ricci became almost the most popular teenage child, and her image of Wednesday is considered iconic. But in the future, the gifted girl was often denied roles. For example, she dreamed of starring in “Lolita” based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, but the directors chose another actress, Dominique Swain, over her.

In 1998, Ricci appeared in another project, it was the American independent film by Vincent Gallo “Buffalo 66”, where Christina got the image of Leila, and Gallo himself played the main male role. They spent $1.5 million on filming the film, while the revenue from the film project amounted to $2.4 million.

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A post shared by Christina Ricci (@riccigrams) on Aug 12, 2017 at 7:39am PDT

Christina Ricci in a swimsuit
Later, the beauty with a gothic appearance was noticed by the director of scary fairy tales, Tim Burton. In 1999, a cult horror film called “Sleepy Hollow” was released, where Christina played the main role. The plot of the film tells the story of constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), who goes to an ominous village to investigate a series of brutal murders. However, the young man does not even suspect that the local legend about the headless horseman will turn out to be the harsh truth.

It is worth noting that Ricci has established herself as a versatile actress who is capable of working in any genre. Thus, in the film “Monster” (2003), the girl appears in the image of the eccentric lesbian Selby Wall, with Charlize Theron playing the main role. And in the film “Penelope” (2006) Ricci transforms into an enchanted aristocrat with a pig’s neck instead of a nose. Catherine O'Hara, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon and others also appeared in this film.

In 2009, the petite beauty (Ricci’s height is 155 cm and her weight is 55 kg) starred in the action-packed film Life Beyond by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Woslo. The plot of the drama with a touch of suspense is simple and non-trivial: after a quarrel with her lover, Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci) got into a car accident. Waking up in a funeral home, a young girl, contrary to the claims of service worker Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson), does not realize that she is dead. Therefore, Anna, on the verge of despair, tries to contact her boyfriend, but all attempts by the deceased are doomed to failure.

James McAvoy, Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Wachsberger and director Mark Palansky at Penelope Premiere
Published by Karina Victoria Gordo Monday, June 15, 2009

Patrick Wachsberger, Mark Palansky, Reese Witherspoon, Christina Ricci and James McAvoy
Ricci starred alongside Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman and Christina Scott Thomas in the film adaptation of French writer Guy de Maupassant's novel Bel Ami.

In 2013, another project called “Life Experience” appeared in her filmography. It's about a young guy whose ancestors were Indigenous Australians, forced to be torn between his first youthful love and his parents' disintegrating marriage. In the film, Christina worked on the same set with Ursula Jovich, Shai Pittman, Ruby Rose and others.

In 2021, the artist, along with Selma Blair, Courteney Cox and Susan Sarandon, starred in the drama Mother's Day, and in 2017 she took part in the dubbing of the cartoon Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

In the American historical drama series “3: The Beginning of Everything” in 2021, Ricci played the main character Zelda Fitzgerald. The film is based on Teresa Ann Fowler's book Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.

Today, the wonderful and truly talented actress, Christina Ricci turns 38 years old! Extraordinary, mysterious and multifaceted... I propose to congratulate her and remember her bio and filmography.

Christina was born on February 12, 1980 in a suburb of Los Angeles. She was the youngest of four children in the family of lawyer Ralph Ricci and realtor Sarah Murdoch. Before engaging in legal practice, her father worked as a psychoanalyst at home: Christina could often hear his sessions coming from the next room, and sometimes parodied the overheard dialogues in front of her mother. The family soon moved to New Jersey. Her parents divorced when she was 13 years old.

Christina never studied acting. But Ricci got on the set at the age of 9 and hasn’t left since then. At the same time, she simply does her job, never shows off, and has never made loud statements or scandals.

FILMOGRAPHY

Currently, Christina has starred in more than sixty films and several TV series. But Christina is better known for her roles in independent cinema. Ricci is considered one of the most underrated actresses. The most significant in her filmography (in my opinion) are:

1) MERMAIDS

Christina's debut on the big screen, where she played with Winona Ryder and Cher. On the set of the film, Christina was 9, Winona was 19, and they still remain best friends. Also on the set, Christina met Johnny Depp, Winona's then-boyfriend. One day little Christina admitted that she fell in love with him and would not marry anyone except Johnny.

2) THE ADDAMS FAMILY

The dark role of Wednesday Addams made 11-year-old Christina Ricci one of the most popular teenage actresses.

3) BUFFALO-66

The main character is Billy Brown, born in Buffalo in 1966. After five years in prison, Billy wants to visit his parents, who thought he got married and went to work in another city. He accidentally meets a girl named Leila, kidnaps her, and then offers to play the role of his wife in front of his parents...

4) PROZAC NATION

The heroine of the film, a young budding journalist, suffers from severe depression. Studying at Harvard, partying, alcohol and drug abuse, and promiscuous sex life only worsen her condition. As a result, after a nervous breakdown, she is prescribed Prozac, and this drug at least outwardly brings her back to life.

5) SLEEPY HOLLOW

This is perhaps the most brilliant gothic film ever made. One of Tim Burton's best works! On the set, Christina was 19 years old, Johnny was 37, but according to Christina, he still looked very young. By the way, in addition to this, these actors have two more joint films, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “The Man Who Cried.”

6) MONSTER

The acclaimed film “Monster” brought actress Charlize Theron an Oscar. After the presentation, she admitted that without Christina Ricci she would not have been able to receive the award, because. she played her character’s mistress so reliably that Charlize herself believed in what was happening.

7) PENELOPE

Funny, kind and family film. It's a pity that Christina and James McAvoy didn't become a couple for real)

LIFE ABROAD

“Life is a disease. Death is Healing,” reads the film’s title. Christina is an actress who lends herself very well to quirky films. No wonder she loves films in the genre of horror and mysticism.

9) DEAR FRIEND

Screen adaptation of the novel by Guy de Maupassant! The film is beautiful and atmospheric, the cast of Christina, Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman and Kristin Scott Thomas is very strong. But overall, the film received mixed reviews.

10) Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

Christina's latest work. The series follows the romance and marriage of Zelda Sayre and Frances Scott Fitzgerald.

INTERESTING FACTS

Christina was credited with romances with Chris Evans, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson.

In 2001, Christina received an award at the MTV Movie Awards in the category “Best Kiss” with actor Ashton Kutcher. On stage they demonstrated that it was not in vain that the award went to them.

While filming the film Prozac Nation in 2001, Christina and Michelle Williams lived together for some time, renting a room.

In one of the interviews, Christina opened up and said that despite the age difference, Johnny always attracted her as a man. Johnny talked about her: “Christina is one of the few actresses who are always daring and unpredictable. This is evident not only in her choice of roles, but also in the way she performs them. She is real, and there are so many fakes around.”

When Christina was a teenager, she was not accepted for some roles due to her excess weight. It ended with Christina being treated for anorexia for a long time.

Christina's height is only 155 centimeters, so she always has to wear heels to premieres so as not to appear too small compared to the tall actors. She admitted that she stopped growing at age 10.

PERSONAL LIFE

On October 26, 2013, Christina married shareholder James Heerdegen. At the beginning of August 2014, the couple had a son, Freddie Heerden. Ricci currently owns his own film production company. Christina is also the face of the Louis Vuitton fashion house.

OTHER PHOTOS

After the first audition, the director decided that I was not suitable. I was very worried and for some reason I started telling him that I was playing football and was constantly being hit on the head with a ball. He probably thought: “Some strange girl. Why should I take it?

“Crazy people were much easier to play.”

“This is my suit. I'm a homicidal maniac. And they look just like everyone else."

At some point, the films “Interview with the Vampire”, “Titanic”, “Romeo + Juliet” passed me by... I was told that I gave the impression of not being a completely normal person. Well, okay, I'm not offended.

“I don’t have my own massage therapist and makeup artist. For me, the best relaxation is to lock myself at home for a day or two, sit and watch a movie.”

“Here in Hollywood, everyone is so ethereal, so nice and so loving to each other. And they shy away from me like the plague, because I’m not like them. It’s unpleasant, of course, but I stand on my feet stronger than all these dolls.”

We need to take things more simply. If you try too hard, nothing will work either.

Christina Ricci now

The new working year turned out to be no less productive for the artist; Ricci continues to act, delighting fans with new projects. In 2021, she received an invitation to star in an American web series, a collection based on urban legends collected from different parts of the United States of America. Each episode tells a 10-minute scary story. The horror film premiered on the new streaming service Quibi in May.

Christina, along with Juliette Lewis, agreed to work in the series “Hornets” (Yellowjackets), which will tell about the misadventures of a girls’ school football team and its teachers, due to circumstances forced to resort to cannibalism.

Childhood

Christina became the youngest of Ricci's four children.
She was born in 1980 in the town of Santa Monica, which is located in the United States of America, not far from Los Angeles. The father of the future actress, Ralph Ricci, worked as a psychotherapist for a long time, but his methods were unusual. He treated patients for phobias, depression and other disorders using cryotherapy (discharge of emotions and feelings through screaming), and he treated them all at home. Christina's mother, Sarah, was a former model. She dreamed that her daughter would follow in her footsteps and become the same thin and successful fashion model with sunken cheeks. Therefore, she strictly limited her daughter’s diet, counting calories and excluding all desserts. When the girl was thirteen years old, her parents divorced.

All of the above factors formed the image of Christina Ricci that we see in The Addams Family, which made her famous. A thin, dark-haired and pale girl who does not like people.

Filmography

1990 — “Mermaids”
1991 — “The Addams Family”
1993 — “Addams Family Values”
1995 — “Casper”
1997 - Buffalo 66
1997 — “Little Red Riding Hood”
1998 — “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
1999 — Sleepy Hollow
2003 — “Monster”
2006 — “Penelope”
2008 — “Speed Racer”
2009 — “Life beyond”
2011 — “Pan American”
2012 — “Dear Friend”
2016 — “Mother’s Day”
2017 — “Teen Titans: The Judas Contract”
2018 — “Distorted”
2020 — “10 dates”
2020 — “50 States of Fear”