Why Hollywood Won't Cast Christina Ricci Anymore

Christina Ricci was just nine years old when she scored her first feature film role in Mermaids, where she all but stole the show from her co-stars, Winona Ryder and Cher. The following year, she snagged the role of Wednesday Addams in the first Addams Family movie, and her status as a pint-sized pre-teen Hollywood icon was complete. From then on, Ricci was ubiquitous in coming-of-age films like Now and Then and big-budget family adventures like Casper, and by the time she reached adulthood she was one of the most famous young actors in the biz — but that can be a liability when it comes to taking on adult roles.

Like many pro actors who made it big as kids, Ricci was still seen as a little girl long after she'd outgrown the desire to play one. And while she managed to bridge that gap with more daring, mature teen roles in smaller films (most notably a haunting turn in Ang Lee's dark, sexy The Ice Storm), it still sapped her momentum at a moment when she could have used a big-budget break into grownup fare.

Although Hollywood isn't necessarily a bad place to be a petite person (see: Tom Cruise, action hero and sex symbol despite being a miniature five-foot-six), body type can definitely play a role when it comes to the roles they'll let you play — and Christina Ricci herself has cited her height as an obstacle to an A-list career. She went on the record about it back in 2007, saying, "I'm five-one first thing in the morning, and I tend to look really small on camera. I can probably go as far as Holly Hunter went, then I think that's going to be it. I have a feeling I am way too small."

Of course, being itty-bitty isn't the whole story for Ricci's career struggles; it certainly hasn't gotten in the way of fellow five-one A-listers like Elliot Page, Kristen Bell, Reese Witherspoon, or—yes—Holly Hunter. But all those ladies have had to fight a similar battle against being perpetually perceived as too cute to play serious dramatic roles, which has to have been a challenge for the former child star as well.

Much the way certain Disney stars hit the scandal circuit a little too hard in an effort to shed their family-friendly images, Christina Ricci went through a period in her late teens and early twenties where she really tried to push the envelope and establish herself as a grownup actress. The Opposite of Sex, 200 Cigarettes, Buffalo 66, and a turn in John Waters' Pecker all proved that she could hang tough in dirty, sexy, sleazy, limit-pushing roles—but it also may have been a little too much at once. Being pigeonholed as a teen queen of crass offers slightly more opportunity than being pigeonholed as a creepy deadpan child with a disembodied appendage for a pet...but, y'know, only slightly.

Many actresses struggle with body image and disordered eating at the expense of their ability to hang in Hollywood, and Christina Ricci sadly wasn't immune from the pressures of her industry. Although she's always been very petite, the actress pointed to her fluctuating weight in the mid-2000s as a detriment to her career at a moment when she really could have used a boost—and as the culprit for her lack of blockbuster roles.

"I know that had I been thinner at the time my indie movies were hitting, I could've been in a much better position in my career," she lamented. As it was, she said, that hit to her image led to her having to work harder than many other actresses to get on the radar of casting directors: "I have to say I still audition for movies. I don't really have as much control over my career as others would like to pretend that I do."

For an actor in need of a boost, a serious period romance—the kind that requires a posh English accent and includes an all-star cast of prestige actors—can be just the thing to reinvigorate a career, which is probably what Christina Ricci was hoping for when she signed on to be part of Bel Ami. The film about a caddish, social-climbing playboy in 1890s Paris had Kristin Scott Thomas and Uma Thurman on board, plus the massively popular British heartthrob Robert Pattinson in his first big post-Twilight role. It should have been a nice little feather in the cap of all involved; alas, the movie flopped hard at the box office. Thanks to a limited release and lousy critical reception, the movie didn't even earn back its production budget. And while Ricci's performance was generally praised—she was even singled out by Roger Ebert as the only good thing about the movie—it wasn't enough.

Christina Ricci's latest choices have not just mattered, they've been good ones—really, really good ones. In fact, the change of perspective brought on by motherhood seems to be exactly what Ricci needed, because she's been on fire ever since. For one thing, she's no longer trying to go against the grain of her legacy for the macabre and quirky; instead, she's straight-up embraced it, and thrived. In 2015, she took on the title role in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, playing the notorious axe murderess who was acquitted in the late 19th century for the brutal killings of her parents. And in 2017, she led the cast of Z, a biopic series about Zelda Fitzgerald, the beautiful, brilliant, and deeply damaged wife of famed American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Although Z was unceremoniously canceled in a surprise move after Amazon renewed it, her work in the series marked yet another evolution in her growth as a performer.

In other words, it's the most natural evolution on earth for the girl who became famous for playing Wednesday Addams—and Ricci is the first to admit that while these roles might be predictable, they also feel right. In an interview with the Today Show in advance of the Lizzie Borden Chronicles premiere, she said, "I've always sort of trusted my instincts, and if you do the things you naturally gravitate toward, there's going to be a through line through your career. And all your choices are going to reflect who you are, and your taste."

And at this point in her life—as a wife, mother, and showbiz professional with nearly three decades of experience under her belt—Ricci knows exactly what her taste is, and what kind of roles she intends to play from now on. As she put it, "I really love a crazy person."