Christina Ricci says that despite challenges around growing up as a child star — and how they may have impacted decisions she ultimately made as an adult — she is not “a victim in any way.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Yellowjackets and Wednesday actress opened up about her early career, her relationship to fashion and her previous marriage with The Sunday Times. At various points, the actress addressed some of the more emotionally tricky intricacies of her childhood, including growing up in a “very chaotic home,” not having spoken to her father since she was a teen and navigating a childhood punishment style.
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Speaking to being a young teen in Hollywood during the ’90s, Ricci shared she would frequent industry parties as a teen by herself, showing up “at the Bowery Bar in my baby Anna Sui T-shirt and my Carhartt pants and literally my school backpack.”
The actress admits that being under the eye of the tabloid culture while working within the entertainment industry impacted how she styled herself: “I never wore clothes to garner sexual attention, because I have always felt that kind of attention in a very threatening way.”
Both in terms of her professional and personal experiences as a child in Hollywood, Ricci says this period may have also led to choices in her adulthood that were not “100 percent” healthy. She specifically refers to her relationship to ex-husband James Heerdegen, who she married in 2013 at the age of 33. In 2021, she obtained a restraining order against him after filing for divorce a year earlier. (Ricci married celebrity hairdresser Mark Hampton in late 2021.)
Ricci, who alleges Heerdegen abused her, says realizing she was in an unsafe relationship and being able to identify it as such was something that took some time.
“I can’t speak for everyone, but it took me a long time to admit to myself what was going on, what it should be called,” she said. “Denial is very strong. Of course, you don’t want to accept that the worst possible thing is happening and that you put yourself in that situation. So it took me a really long time to realize that.”
As a result of the divorce, a process Ricci described as full of “financial traumas, extended court situations, custody situations, fighting restraining orders,” the actress says she “learned to be a little bit more intelligent about my investments.”
“I burnt a lot of money on bags and shoes and jewelry when I was younger. You know, coming from no money and suddenly having money … So that was a mistake,” she said. “I don’t buy a ton of fashion. There are certain things that I have collected, certain bags. I had quite a Chanel-handbag collection for a while, but I sold a lot of things.”
The actress says she’s doing “absolutely doing fine, there’s no issue” following the sale of these items to address those “certain traumas.” They were, for her, an opportunity “to use these investment pieces in different ways.”
Ultimately, Ricci says all of these experiences have not left her feeling like “a victim in any way.”
“I don’t feel sorry for myself. I don’t even feel like saying, ‘Well, it’s been a really hard road for me,'” she continues. “Everybody has their personal issues and this has been mine, and it has been about finding my own self-worth and position and strength and power.”
As for her decision to speak publicly about these personal topics, the Yellowjackets star says that she wants to tell her story for those who have been in similar situations, who are looking to find out how they can come out on the other side.
“I tell my story only because I know that, having been in situations like the one I was in, I searched for success stories, stories of people who could get out, could get over it and just be OK,” she explains. “The fact that now I am in this place where I am so much better than OK, that is my impetus for being honest about it. Today I am not ready to talk about it in more depth, but I do think it is important that we have examples for other women — that, as scary as it is, changing your life and saving yourself is the only choice.”
