Christina Ricci Reveals Unwelcome Body Scrutiny While Growing up

Geri Green
Christina Ricci
Shutterstock | 564025

Christina Ricci has opened up on facing scrutiny over her body while growing up in the public eye. The 41-year-old actress was nine years old when she began her on-screen career in the 1990 movie Mermaids, and she then went on to become iconic in the movies The Addams Family, and Casper. As she makes headlines for starring in the new movie Wednesday, Christina has been speaking out about how she felt about people judging her on her body. She also revealed developing an eating disorder during puberty, plus receiving unwelcome and distasteful comments from men at that time.

Opening Up On Comments

Christina Ricci
Flickr | FREYSnap

Speaking to Today Parents in the wake of a Time feature, Ricci stated: “People would basically all get together and look at you and decide how to fix everything that was wrong with you,” adding: “And I never enjoyed those days of everybody talking about my flaws.”

She also revealed developing breasts around the age of 12 or 13 and that "they would talk about how to make me look less womanly." Here, Ricci confirmed that the comments made her "really uncomfortable." The actress then turned to the Hollywood industry overall, one known for prioritizing looks and often putting women down because of theirs.

Addressing Being In Hollywood

Christina continued, saying that in Hollywood, “the production — the movie being made — is more important than any individual’s feelings. So they didn’t have to consider my feelings. That can be a big problem when you're a kid."

Christina fortunately recovered from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa at the age of 15. Also known for having opened up on their eating disorders are celebrities including singer Taylor Swift, pop star Demi Lovato, and music star Paula Abdul. Christina here noted that she doesn't want "weirdness" around food as she raises her son and daughter.

'Trick' On Women

Of attitudes towards how people look, Christina noted:

"Unless you’re going to make a career that is all based on your body, then why are we thinking so much about what we physically look like? That’s the biggest trick that’s ever been played on women. If we’re so preoccupied with our looks, we’ll never develop any of our talents.” 

New Movie

Christina is causing massive buzz right now as fans of the much-loved The Addams Family movie get their prequel via Netflix movie Wednesday. The flick also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams. For more from Christina, give her Instagram account a follow.