From L to R: Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci and Cher in 1990.Photo: Bobbie Wygant Archive/Youtube
Christina Ricciis throwing it back 30-plus years!
On Tuesday, theYellowjacketsactress shareda 1990 clipof herself seated between herMermaidscostarsCherandWinona Ryderfor an interview to promote the film — at which time Ricci, now 42, was just 10 years old.
In the clip, Ricci — who played Kate Flax, the daughter of Cher’s Rachel Flax and younger sister of Ryder’s Charlotte Flax, in the ’60s-set coming-of-age dramedy —wore pink and purple from head to toe, in cute contrast to her costars' darker looks.
“The last time I wore pink,” Ricci quippedon her Instagram Story, alongside the video. Her comment was no doubt a nod to some of the darker roles that would pepper her filmography from that point forward, fromThe Addams FamilytoCasper,Sleepy HollowandYellowjackets.
Mermaidswas Ricci’s first-ever film role. The movie followed her character Kate as she begins to figure out life, often through her passion for swimming, while her single mother Rachel (Cher, 76) and older sister Charlotte (Ryder, 50) navigated their own new relationships and personal demons in small-town Massachusetts in 1963.Bob Hoskinsalso starred in the flick, as Rachel’s love interest, Lou.
Critics praised the chemistry of Ricci, Ryder, and Cher in the family film. The threesome didn’t just do press together, either; Ricci and Ryer even appeared in Cher’smusic video for"The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)" from the movie’s soundtrack, adorably dressed just like the iconic actress and singer in ’60s-era glam.
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Ricci, who is currently up for anEmmy Awardfor her role as Misty inYellowjackets, previously opened up to PEOPLE aboutstarting acting at an early age.
“I’ve had some incredible experiences and loved working as a child,” said Ricci, whose childhood roles include turns inCasper(1995),Now and Then(1995) and theAddams Familyfilms in 1991 and 1993.
“I have to sayThe Addams Familymovies were two really, really — they were like glory days for me as a 10- and 12-year-old,” the actress added. (Ricci is set to appear in the imminentNetflixseriesWednesday, starringJenna Ortegaas the title character Ricci portrayed in the ’90s films.)
She also said Cher “was the most famous actress I’ve worked with,” and noted how theOscarwinner “was so open and so incredibly kind and generous” on the set of Ricci’s first film,Mermaids.
“I learned a ton from her,” Ricci told PEOPLE. “I could ask her directly, ‘How do you do it? How do you make yourself cry?’ And she would try to help me learn how to do it. She was great.”
Ricci’s time filmingMermaidswas also poignant because it was when she learned an important life lesson — fromJohnny Depp, Ryder’s then-boyfriend.
“There was something going on on set and someone was not being nice to someone else. And they were like, ‘Oh, well, he might be homophobic,'” Ricci toldAndy Cohenduring a phone callfor his SiriusXM showearlier this month. “And then I was like, ‘Well, I don’t understand what that is.’ "
“And I was in Winona’s trailer and she was like, ‘I don’t know how [to explain].’ So she put me on the phone with Johnny, and Johnny explained it to me,” the actress recalled.
According to Ricci,Depp, 59, explained it in"the simplest terms” and “very matter-of-factly.”
“He was like, ‘It’s when a man wants to have sex with a man and when a woman wants to have sex with a woman.’ And I was like, ‘Ah, okay,’ " she said.
source: people.com
