Christina Ricci on Reuniting With Tim Burton, ‘Yellowjackets' Season 2, and Her New Pet Partnership
Over the trajectory of her career, Christina Ricci has managed to consistently subvert audience expectations. I mean, who else has so often—intentionally or not—brought such empathy-inducing nuance to some seriously twisted people? (Have you seen Yellowjackets??) These days, the work Christina's doing for one role in particular subverts expectations in its own unique way, because it has zilch to do with acting.
After looking into better nutrition options for her oldest pup, Karen, Christina discovered the pet company Stella & Chewy's. And Christina has taken her love of its products to the next level by way of a partnership for its “All You Need Is Raw” campaign.
Recently, Cosmopolitan spoke with Christina about everything from Yellowjackets season 2, to reuniting with Tim Burton for the upcoming Wednesday series, and, of course, her partnership with Stella & Chewy's. Read on for the full conversation.
You certainly have a lot of exciting projects in the works right now. How are you navigating all of it?
Okay, well thank you for noticing! I'm doing pretty well right now. It's been a really busy year for sure, unexpectedly so. I don't think that any of us could have anticipated Yellowjackets being so successful, and then all the stuff that's come after has been a really fun, great surprise. But it has been really busy, and I rely on a very supportive husband, really great representation, and a really fantastic nanny. So that's really how I'm doing it these days.
You touched on Yellowjackets, can you delve a little bit into your character, Misty, on the show and what initially drew you to her?
Initially, I only had the pilot script to go off of and a meeting I had with the EPs and writers where they pitched what the show would look like if it went to series. So really, I only had that one scene in the pilot, which is just Misty abusing an old lady.
Wow.
But the scene was so well written, so insightful, so communicative and informative in such a concise way, and I just felt like, 'Oh, look, these are writers who are fascinated with people that I'm fascinated with and the darker, more realistic, slightly skewed versions of all kinds of different people.'
I was excited to play a character like this—the pettiness that you'd have to have to do what she does in the pilot. And, I don't know, I like exploring characters that have different ways of expressing themselves, different emotions. Like with Misty, she feels so much rage, but it's completely twisted into this sort of hyper-vigilant happiness. And those kinds of things are really fun as an actor to play.
The show goes back and forth in time, so what was the dynamic like working with another actor playing your same character? Obviously it's so complex, but I can only imagine it's magnified when you have to work with somebody else on building the character.
Yeah, it's really true. We are so lucky in that our writing is so good, and it's so smart, and there's very rarely anything that doesn't make sense. They basically write the script so that the younger versions do support what the older versions do. We're really lucky in that aspect. And then also Samantha Hanratty, who plays young Misty, is just such an incredible actress and really, I'm so lucky that she is my younger. That's how we refer to them: our youngers!
Amazing. Is there anything that fans should expect from the upcoming season that you could possibly speak to now?
I would say it's better than the first season. I mean, the first season was amazing, so the fact the our scripts we've been seeing are better—each one is better than the last—is really exciting. And it's crazier than the first season and just more shocking and intense than even the first season was.
I think we did in the beginning, upon returning to the show, feel a little bit of pressure, like, 'Oh God, let's hope it's as good as season 1.' And then once we started reading the scripts, I think everybody just stopped being nervous. I think the feeling now amongst the cast is just like, 'Oh my God, we can't wait for people to see the season.'
I'm sure it's going to be incredible! Quickly switching to Wednesday; though it's not exactly the same as the original movies you were in, how does it feel to be returning to the story of The Addams Family and working with Tim Burton again?
It's really great! I loved him. I'm such a fan of his as a movie lover, but then also having worked with him, my experience with him was so great and so fun when I was younger, so I was really flattered and excited to be asked by him to do the show. It's fun to be a part of the new iteration of something that was so defining in your life, you know?
I do have a lot of sentiment around it, so it's wonderful to be included in this. It was so great to watch Jenna [Ortega] inhabit this character. She's so good and so smart and really has that self-respect and dignity that I think is so important for the character. I was really excited about her and for her, and I think it's going to be an amazing show.
A lot of us at Cosmo are very, very excited for that show too. You've talked a lot before about being at the right place at the right time when teenagers were just asked to play teenagers. And you've had a lot of really challenging, complex roles. How did you cope with, or compartmentalize, these characters—their feelings, their insecurities, their dreams, their struggles, all of that—while you yourself were trying to figure out life as a young adult?
I think when I was younger, it was harder for me to separate myself from the characters. That's something you sort of learn with time, or something I learned over time. I think also as I got older and my personal life became more full, it was easier to compartmentalize, because my own life would match the weight and time that I spent on the other character, if you know what I mean.
Mm-hmm.
But yeah, when I was younger I did struggle with it. But I just feel like you're so much more emotional anyway when you're younger, and there are more struggles than you have when you're older because I think you're acclimating to life as an adult. So it was definitely harder then, but I just kind of got through it, I guess.
Do you feel like even now you gravitate towards the same types of characters and storylines as when you were younger, or has that changed as you've evolved?
I still playing really complex, interesting people, and I like playing versions of people that we maybe haven't seen that much in movies or TV. I like playing characters that express themselves in unconventional ways. Like Misty is so full of rage, but it's been so twisted that it all comes out with this horrible smile now, and I think that's the kind of thing I've always been drawn to. So I don't think it's changed, no.
You've been acting for so long, but is there anything you would be doing instead if you weren't an actor?
I have very actress-y responses to that, which I think reveals that I'd be an actress. But I would say a therapist or an interior decorator, which apparently is just the most actress-y response ever of all time.
I also want to touch on other work that you're doing with a collaboration with Stella & Chewy's for its “All You Need Is Raw” campaign. How did you initially come across the company and what specifically resonates with you about it?
I am really excited about this partnership! It feels really organic to me. I've always loved animals, and in particular dogs and cats because I grew up with tons of them. I have three dogs now and my oldest dog Karen is about 13. As she got older, I started looking at ways to keep her not only alive for as long as possible, but healthy and comfortable.
So I started looking into nutrition that could support her health in a better way, and I found Stella & Chewy's. I love the products, but I also love the brand and I love what it's doing for Karen's health and my other dogs. And I love the way that a brand includes this much thought and care into their food reflects how much thought and care we as pet owners put into our daily interactions and care of our dogs.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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