Christina Ricci Bound Her Breasts From Age 12 to 15 to Continue Playing Child Roles

Christina Ricci is many things to many people: a Goth icon, a former child star, and always a very talented actor. Ricci is well known for her knack for playing dark characters, or those with a bit of an edge to them.

Ricci was eventually able to break away from her early image as a child star, getting cast in adult roles in the early 2000s. Still, those days of transition weren’t easy, and Ricci has opened up a few times about the challenges of stepping away from child roles. Once, Ricci even admitted that certain producers made her disguise her figure in order to keep playing children. 

Christina Ricci became a child star in the early ’90s

Ricci was born in California in 1990 but spent the majority of her childhood in New Jersey. As a very young child, Ricci got involved in local school theater productions, where she was discovered at the age of eight by a local theater critic, according to IMDb. Not long after that, Ricci was cast in her very first film, the 1990 movie Mermaids. Opposite high-profile actors like Cher and Winona Ryder, Ricci made a splash. 

In 1991, Ricci’s life changed again when she was cast as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family. Critics and fans loved Ricci’s performance as Wednesday, and she eventually reprised the role in the 1993 movie Addams Family Values. By this time, Ricci was a major star, with other roles in movies like Casper and Now and Then. 

What did Christina Ricci say about having to bind her breasts in order to keep landing child roles?

In the late ’90s, Ricci was a big box-office presence but hadn’t yet been able to transition to adult roles. Ricci would later admit that producers wanted her to be viewed as a child actor, even though she was rapidly growing to maturity. Eighties Kids reports that Ricci was actually forced to bind her breasts from the time that she was 12 until she was 15 in order to keep playing children onscreen. Ricci later stated: “Can you imagine what that does to your head? It made me feel like it was a crime to grow up and develop womanly traits. It made me feel like there was something wrong with me and I resented my body for rebelling against me.”

1998 would be a year of change for Ricci, with the actor finally getting cast in adult roles in several films. These movies included The Opposite of Sex and Pecker. She also collaborated several times with quirky actor Johnny Depp, acting with him in Sleepy Hollow and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. 

What is Christina Ricci doing now?

Fortunately, Ricci was able to break away from the expectations of producers and movie executives, forging her own way in the entertainment business. The early 2000s brought her significant critical acclaim, thanks to her work in gritty dramas like Monster and Cursed. She also branched out to explore a career in television, appearing in shows such as Ally McBeal and Grey’s Anatomy. 

Ricci has always been able to return to her roots as a Goth queen, producing and starring in the series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. These days, Ricci is still hard at work in the movie business, with recent roles in The Matrix Resurrections and Here After. She’s also a wife and mother to two young children. Ricci is proof positive that it is possible to carve out a completely original career in the world of Hollywood.