By day she slaughtered her opponents with an axe, but by night, Christina Ricci found herself crying at the drop of an animal.
As a new mum, Ricci found almost anything would set her emotions awry – from animal welfare advertisements to sad news stories.
“It’s funny, everything changes when you have a child and you can’t really stomach the same stuff,” she says. “I would have full breakdowns when I used to watch like [RSPCA] commercials, and any story involving child abuse now I can’t handle it, or anything that’s too violent.”
And then she had to deal with going to work and playing the sociopathic Lizzie Borden, who bludgeons her parents to death, then spends her time terrorising small-town America? “When you’re filming it yourself it’s all plastic and fake blood and props that keep breaking, so it doesn’t seem real,” Ricci assures me. “So I was okay with that.”
What she wasn’t so okay with was people questioning her choice to return to work and film the show The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, two months after the birth of her son to husband James Heerdegen in August last year.
“I think most women understand you don’t actually have to make a decision, you can do both [work and be a mum.] But there was external pressure, from people who were like ‘I thought you were going to take a break at this point,’ and you have to ignore those people,” Ricci, 35, says.
While being a working mum has it’s difficulties, Ricci says she has tried to find a balance. Having a child is “absolutely wonderful,” and each mother will know what works best.
“I think when it comes to family, like having a baby, we are all incredibly vulnerable. It’s hard and it’s very stressful and there’s a lot of guilt involved, and I think ultimately you can tell when it’s not right.”
It’s been 25 years since Ricci first hit the big-time with film Mermaids, that classic 1990 comedy with Winona Ryder and Cher (if you haven’t seen it, please do so immediately.) In it she plays Cher’s kooky nine-year-old daughter Kate, a performance which saw her land the coveted role of Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family a year later. Read the rest of this entry
May. 10 2015 |
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Jan. 04 2014 |
In the new Lifetime original movie “Lizzie Borden Took an Ax,” the protagonist’s name is uttered in full many times throughout the film’s 87 minutes. She isn’t called “Lizzie” or “Miss Borden” but “Lizzie Borden.” The notorious name strikes tactical blows on the viewer’s psyche, conjuring bits of legend, myth and contested story lines about the accused murderess’ storied life.
The movie, which airs Jan. 25, stars Christina Ricci, last seen on TV in the short-lived ABC series “Pan Am,” a 1960s period piece. In film she was most recently the voice of Vexy in “Smurfs 2.” She is also the voice of Yellow in the upcoming animated feature “The Hero of Color City” and is set to appear in writer-director Paul Duddridge’s “Mother’s Day,” which boasts an all-star cast including Sharon Stone and Susan Sarandon.
Playing Lizzie Borden, a historical figure firmly lodged in the pop culture canon, is a decidedly dark turn for Ricci. She says she was attracted to the role because of the interesting spin put on it by veteran TV director Nick Gomez (“Damages,” “Burn Notice,” “The Blacklist”).
“We wanted to come at it from the perspective of we know she’s guilty and this is the way she behaves afterward,” Ricci says over the phone from New York, adding that she believes Lizzie really did commit the crimes. Read the rest of this entry
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Jun. 12 2013 |
Long before Amanda Knox, Casey Anthony and Jodi Arias, there was another young American woman on a trial for murder that became a media spectacle. I’ve learned exclusively that Christina Ricci has been tapped to play Lizzie Borden in a Lifetime original movie about the woman tried and acquitted in the 1892 ax murders of her father and stepmother. Directed by Nick Gomez and produced by Sony Pictures Television, the movie tells the story of Fall River, Mass., resident Borden, who finds herself on trial for the brutal murder with a hatchet-type weapon of her father, Andrew Jackson Borden, and his second wife, Abby Durfee Gray Borden, at their family home. She was acquitted at a trial, which drew national attention, though no one else was ever charged with the crime, which has remained unsolved. Despite being found guilty in the court of public opinion in her native town, at least in some circles, Borden lived in Fall River for the rest of her life. Judith Verno (Lifetime’s Drew Peterson: Untouchable) executive produces the movie, which joins such recent entries at the network as Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy, Prosecuting Casey Anthony and the upcoming Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, which also is exec produced by Verno. Elizabeth Montgomery played Borden in the 1975 ABC movie The Legend Of Lizzie Borden. Additionally, Chloe Sevigny was attached to play the role in a miniseries for HBO two years ago.
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Apr. 26 2013 |
“White Noise” director Geoffrey Sax is onboard to helm the film, which was written by first-time scribe Peter Scott Vicaire.
Christina Ricci is in talks to star in the indie thriller Unmasked.
Geoffrey Sax (White Noise, Frankie & Alice) is onboard to helm the film, which was written by first-time scribe Peter Scott Vicaire.
The script was discovered on Inkip.com and optioned by Sean Thomas, producer of the upcoming A Single Shot starring William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell and Melissa Leo.
The story follows a man who joins a dangerous and mysterious club in order to relive the worst day of his life.
The filmmakers are now looking to cast a male lead.
Founded in 2001, InkTip.com has become a well-used repository for scripts, with 11 feature films having gone into production from InkTip.com-sourced scripts and writers.
Ricci recently wrapped the relationship drama Mother’s Day and a voice role in The Smurfs 2. She is repped by ICM Partners, Management 360 and attorney Melanie Cook.
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Sep. 06 2012 |
With Christina Ricci’s Pan Am having crashed at ABC, the actress is landing on another Sunday night show next season.
In her first announced TV gig since the ABC drama, CBS says Ricci will guest star on an upcoming episode of The Good Wife. The actress will play a controversial comedienne needing the help of Julianna Margulies’ law firm on the show.
The CBS drama, returning Sept. 30, recently saw the exit of new hire Kristin Chenoweth from the set after the actress was injured by a piece of falling lighting equipment.
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