Summary
- Christina Ricci’s diverse range allows her to excel in a wide variety of roles, from darkly comedic to relatable girl next door characters.
- Unlike many child stars, Ricci easily broke out of typecasting due to her ability to seamlessly transition from child to teen to adult roles.
- Many of Ricci’s best movies and TV shows came after her child-star heyday, showcasing her talent for pushing herself into new and uncharted territory as a performer.
The best Christina Ricci movies and TV shows illustrate her amazing range and allow her to play a diverse set of characters from darkly comedic to the girl next door. Breaking onto the Hollywood scene in the 1990s, Ricci quickly became one of the biggest child and teen stars of the decade and appeared in a slew of massive hits that defined her career. Even from a young age, Ricci’s ability to fully inhabit a character was apparent, and she landed roles based on her talents and not her cutesy charm like other child actors.
Unlike many of her child star contemporaries, Ricci didn’t struggle to break out of her typecasting and that was due in large part to the fact that she played such a wide range at an early age. Seamlessly shifting from child to teen, and finally into fully adult roles, Ricci never missed a beat and has remained a star for over 30 years. Though she was one of the most iconic movie actors of the 1990s, many of the best Christina Ricci movies and TV shows actually came after her child-star heyday, and she has continued to push herself into new and uncharted territory as a performer.
Black Snake Moan (2006)
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Stream on Amazon Prime Video, Fubo TV, Paramount +, and MGM +
Written and directed by Craig Brewer, Black Snake Moan is a Southern melodrama that follows Rae Doole (Ricci), a nymphomaniac, who is tortured by a pastor named Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) who is hell-bent on curing her.
Although Ricci spends a large chunk of the movie barely clothed and chained to a radiator, the relationship between the two characters makes for a fascinating watch. Ricci, especially, more than brings her A-game in the movie, matching Samuel L. Jackson line for line in a deeply compelling way. Despite strong performances, the overt violence and gratuity of the script was largely off-putting.
Casper (1995)
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Buy or rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, and Vudu
Though it was somewhat poorly reviewed, Casper is an integral part of mid-1990s pop culture and continued Ricci’s rise to stardom. Friendly ghost Casper (Malachi Pearson) is visited by a paranormal specialist named James (Bill Pullman) he forms a friendship with James’ young daughter, Kat (Ricci). Though Ricci famously hated her Casper performance, the movie succeeded largely on her burgeoning star power. The movie itself is filled with plenty of playful, spooky, and fun moments, and while it is far from perfect, it is yet another blockbuster that Ricci left her mark on during the 1990s.
Mermaids (1990)
Though it has nothing to do with the titular mythical creatures, there was a bit of magic in the highly-underrated family dramedy Mermaids. Teenager Charlotte (Winona Ryder) is tired of her wacky mother’s (Cher) antics as they finally try to settle down in rural New England in the 1960s. Kate Flax, the youngest daughter (and arguably the most aquatic of the three Flax ladies), was Christina Ricci’s first movie role at age nine, and she held her own alongside Cher and Winona Ryder. The movie is best remembered as one of Cher’s greatest movies, but its true strength was in the ensemble performances.
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015)
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Buy on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Vudu
Long a shadowy figure from the sordid history of American true crime, Lizzie Borden was further fleshed out in the miniseries The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. Following her high-profile acquittal, Lizzie Borden (Ricci) deals with her newfound infamy while becoming the prime suspect in a series of mysterious deaths. Ricci reprised her role from the TV movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, and the season-long series gave her a chance to really become the character. While the series did delve a bit into unsavory territory by capitalizing on a real-life true-crime event, Ricci explored Borden’s internal world with fascinating clarity.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
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Buy or rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, and Vudu
Though it is one of the best Christina Ricci movies and TV shows, she only briefly appears in the cult classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) travels to Las Vegas for a story and descends into a hallucinogenic nightmare. Ricci has a small role as the underaged, Barbara Streisand-obsessed Lucy, who is found in a questionable situation with Benicio Del Toro’s Gonzo. Despite its lackluster box office performance, movies like Fear and Loathing often gain cult status, and the film remains popular to this day. Ricci’s small role is a memorable transition into more adult roles for the young actor.
Wednesday (2022-Present)
The indelible mark that Christina Ricci left on the Addams Family franchise can not be overstated, and it only made sense for her to appear in the series Wednesday. The show follows the creepy Addams daughter (Jenna Ortega) as she is sent to a boarding school and uncovers a strange mystery. Ricci plays Marilyn Thornhill, and though she was mostly there for nostalgia, she still turned in a strong performance. The show itself playfully reinventing Charles Addams’ original lore, and made the creepy and kooky family just a bit more sinister thanks to Tim Burton’s influence.
Z: The Beginning Of Everything (2017)
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Stream on Amazon Prime Video and Freevee
No stranger to playing historical figured, Ricci was tapped to star as one of the most influential women in the history of American literature in Z: The Beginning of Everything. The series follows the explosive love affair between Zelda (Ricci) and writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (David Hoflin) set against the backdrop of the Roaring ’20s. While many of the best Christina Ricci movies and shows put her in darker roles, the free-spirited Zelda showed off her vibrant side. Unfortunately, just as the series began to build steam during its first season it was unceremoniously canceled.
Now And Then (1995)
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Buy or rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, and Vudu
Now and Then is a classic coming-of-age movie that follows the friendship of four adult women as they remember their time as teenagers in the 1970s. Often said to be the female version of Stand By Me, it gives a glimpse into the awkwardness of being a young teen and is a quintessential movie for women of a certain age. Now and Then seamlessly navigates the delicate time of transformation between the freedom of childhood and the responsibility that comes with growing up. Ricci’s Roberta is the most resistant to change, and there is a sense of urgency to her performance as she tries to delay the inevitable.
The Ice Storm (1997)
Ang Lee is known for his emotional character-driven films, and The Ice Storm showcases the director’s impeccably nuanced talent for storytelling. The film follows the slow crack-up of two seemingly wholesome American families over the course of one Thanksgiving holiday. Ricci plays Wendy, a teen girl exploring her sexuality with the neighbors, brothers Mikey (Elijah Wood) and Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd), which juxtaposes interestingly between their parents’ exploration into the swinger lifestyle. Though she was still young, The Ice Storm marked a serious change in Ricci’s career trajectory as she proved she really could turn in an amazing performance.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Inspired by the Washington Irving story, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow is a gothic horror that utilizes his signature dark atmospheric visuals and masterful storytelling to create a wonderfully creepy tale. Investigator Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is called into the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of gruesome murders. Ricci appears as love interest Katrina Van Tassel, and she brings an almost sweet ingenue-like energy to the proceeding. The film goes heavy on the gore and is undeniably a horror movie, and its brilliant mix of styles makes Sleepy Hollow one of Tim Burton’s best.
Monster (2003)
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Stream on Fubo TV, Peacock, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Vudu, Tubi TV, Plex, and Freevee
Monster is a biographical depiction of serial killer Aileen Wuornos and saw Charlize Theron famously alter her appearance to inhabit the role. As Wuornos’ lover, Selby Wall, Ricci delivers an underappreciated performance overshadowed by Theron’s gigantic critical success. Even though it is the story of a killer, the movie is also very much a love story between Aileen and Selby, which Ricci and Theron more than sell. The dysfunctional relationship is juxtaposed against the brutal murders and environment that led Wuornos to commit the crimes in the first place.
Buffalo ‘66 (1998)
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Stream on Hoopla, Vudu, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Redbox, Mubi, and Pluto TV
Multidisciplinary artist Vincent Gallo made a splash in the late 90s with the indie film Buffalo ‘66, serving as the director, star, writer, and soundtrack composer. Recently released ex-con Billy (Gallo) kidnaps young Layla (Ricci) so that she can pretend to be his wife as he tries to reintegrate back into his troubled family life. The film was instantly polarizing with many praising its edgy approach and others deriding its seeming meaninglessness. However, the one thing that shined throughout was the performances, and Ricci’s turn as Layla saw her grow into a full-fledged dramatic powerhouse, and she played off her Addams Family co-star Anjelica Huston brilliantly.
Addams Family Values (1993)
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Stream on Paramount + and Hoopla
In many ways, The Addams Family sequel is just as good as the original, and Addams Family Values showed the franchise had legs. The creepy and kooky Addams clan is expecting a new arrival and young Wednesday (Ricci) and her brother Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) aren’t happy about it. Ricci is both terrifying and hilarious throughout as the character navigates her creepy “first” smile and even a budding romance. Wednesday doesn’t pull any punches in the slightest against those who want to suppress her. This is especially true in her epic speech during the Thanksgiving play at Camp Chippewa that makes the internet rounds every November.
The Addams Family (1991)
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Stream on Paramount + and Hoopla
Decades after their debut in The New Yorker, Charles Addams’ macabre nuclear family arrived on the big screen in The Addams Family. The ghoulish Addams family is split when a man arrives claiming to be the long-lost Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd). It’s hard to picture anyone but Ricci as Wednesday Addams, especially for millennials who grew up with this version of the family. Ricci utterly inhabits the character, giving a very deadpan performance that has become the standard way she is depicted. Though many of the best Christina Ricci movies and TV shows were better reviewed, it is the massive pop-culture impact that makes her turn as Wednesday so important.
Yellowjackets (2021-Present)
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Stream on Paramount +, Fubo TV, Showtime, Amazon Prime Video, and The Roku Channel
More than three decades after her big screen debut, Christina Ricci managed to reinvent herself on the small screen in the cast of Yellowjackets. The series follows a high school soccer team who find themselves stranded in the deep forest after surviving a plane crash, the series also catches up with the survivors 25 years later as they deal with the fallout of their experiences. Ricci appears as the adult version of Misty, a subtly manipulative woman who never lost her killer instinct. Ricci scored an Emmy nomination for her performance, and it showed she had fully come into her own as a performer.
