Christina Ricci has been known to star in fantastical roles. She earned herself popularity as the snarky Wednesday Addams with her quick wit and angelic looks, which made her name pop in Hollywood during the 1990s, appearing in more than a dozen films. But her presence in stardom seemed to subside in the last decade, appearing in the dark film “Prozac Nation,” where she portrayed memoir writer Elizabeth Wurtzel, and brief stints on sitcoms.
Now, Ricci is shimmying back in the limelight on a happier note. Her film “Penelope,” a contemporary fairy tale where she is practically exiled in her home because she has the nose of a pig, hits theaters Friday.
“Here’s this girl who is essentially trapped in her house for 25 years because of what everyone tells her is wrong with her,” said Ricci in a teleconference.
A spell was cast upon Penelope at birth, and when a tabloid reporter prints an atrocious photo of her, her parents (Catherine O’Hara, one of Ricci’s favorite actresses, and Richard E. Grant) lock her away. When she begins to unleash her sheepishness, she goes in public with a scarf on her face to disguise her animal snout – something that saved Ricci much annoyance as she wouldn’t have to wear the prosthetic makeup, which took nearly two hours for artists to apply each day.

The visually enchanting film, inspired from the works of Tim Burton, promotes the value of being an individual, she said, adding how it is not the typical prince-sweeps-girl-off-her-feet story line, despite James McAvoy’s appearance as the male protagonist.
“Vanity is a really silly thing,” said Ricci, a public advocate for women’s organizations like Planned Parenthood and RAINN, a national rape network.
She partly chose the film – which actually wrapped in March 2006 but got dropped by its first distributor, and now, fresh with a new ad campaign, is ready for release – because of its underlying feminist message for modern women. Reese Witherspoon, who co-stars as Penelope’s racy friend Annie, approached Ricci for the role because of her interest in women’s issues.
“I’m so sick of all the negative imagery… out there for women right now and little girls,” Ricci said. “As soon as I saw that (the film) had that message in it, I was just like, ‘Well, this is awesome.’”
But Ricci takes a firm stance that the film is “not preachy” or “patronizing” in any way, and even men can relate to the overall message of believing in yourself. In fact, the director Mark Palansky identified with Penelope as he “felt like a bit of an outsider” while growing up, she said.
“We sort of live in this weird culture that seems to want to homogenize everybody. And I think this is a movie that’s really sort of saying like, no, it’s great to be different.”
Despite her obscure presence in the industry during the last few years, the Italian-born starlet never stopped enjoying her job. “I know it’s probably tragically uncool to say this, but… I do like going out and having people know who I am and having my picture taken…”
With this mindset, Hollywood can be sure to see more of Ricci in 2008.
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