Christina Ricci: ‘people like to assume I’m stupid before I open my mouth’

Mild spoilers for Yellowjackets
I haven’t seen the finale of Yellowjackets yet. I like the show fine, but not as much as everyone else. Maybe the final episode is so good I’ll eat my words but overall, the script thinks it’s cleverer than it is. However, I love the cast and think they deserved a better story. The characters are written pretty well. Plus the actors, both teenage and adult version, are doing wonders with the material. I like that I can feel both furious and sorry for each of them. Like Christina Ricci’s Misty, who should have every door slammed in her face. But at the same time, both Christina and Sammi Hanratty, who plays the teenage Misty, bring a humanity to Misty that occasionally makes me forget she’s horrid. The reason Misty is so real is that Christina is a good actress, but she also knows what it’s like to be dismissed. Christina told the LA Times that being a small woman who was perceived as cute led people to assume she’s stupid even before she spoke.

On why Misty’s terrifying: What I love about her is the way she expresses her rage. I love the idea of a person who, the only viable way for them to express their rage is passive aggression. She’s a small woman. She looks completely innocuous and has no social currency. She’s not “hot.” She’s not charming. She’s not cool. So imagine someone like that having gone through their whole life and is still in a place where she’s eking out entertainment and enjoyment and glee from everyday life. She’s squeezed like a stress doll. Ultimately, what happens is the eyes pop out and the ears pop out in this comical and yet horrifying way, and that’s very much Misty. She is so passive-aggressive, so full of edge, because she’s got so much rage by having been thwarted her whole life. But she can’t express it in the way a 6-foot-tall man would. So it’s all smiles and masking everything. That really awkward laugh when she feels uncomfortable or nervous.

On how Christina relates to Misty: I am a small woman who apparently is adorable to people who like to touch me and not take me seriously and like to assume I’m stupid before I open my mouth. And I’m an actress who didn’t go to college, so I must be really dumb. But I can’t be directly hostile or directly confrontational. I deal with my anger in a very passive-aggressive way as well when I’m out in public or in the streets or dealing with someone in the parking lot who’s cut me off. So I very much related to that, and I love the idea of getting to show that because I don’t feel like I’ve ever played anything where I got to show that manifestation of rage.

On portraying Misty accurately: Misty is a character who expresses herself in a way that people are unfamiliar with. Sometimes people would feel that what I was doing would not be recognizable because it wasn’t traditional. “How do we know she’s angry if she’s smiling?” There would be discussions about making her more relatable, but I felt like, we’re in a time and place now where you don’t have to see yourself in the character to be interested or even sympathize. It was tough for me because I like to be bold, to make very strong choices and kind of ride the edge. Sometimes maybe it’s too much. Finding that balance where people felt that she was still “relatable,” while still being true to the character that I wanted to play, was difficult.

[From The Los Angeles Times]

Reading this, I am even more convinced than before that the cast is what elevated Yellowjackets. I am so glad Christina stuck to her guns on how to portray Misty. I can’t think of anyone I know who’d ask, “How do we know she’s angry if she’s smiling?” That’s why it helps to identify with a character, even if they’re a sociopath. I understand what Christina’s saying about her size coloring people’s judgement of her. But it’s kind of funny to me because I associate Christina most with Wednesday Addams, who I thought was very smart. So, I have the opposite reaction to seeing her. Her point still applies, though – perception is everything. You just hope it goes in your favor.

Christina talked more about the misconception of her based on appearance on Ellen DeGeneres the other day. She referred to herself as a “murderous golden retriever,” which will be hard to unsee now. But she said because she’s little, people like to touch her. Yeah. That would send me into the murderous golden retriever arena as well. Christina also said her son Freddie is not having an easy time of it now that he’s turned seven. The problem is that seven is the age at which Christina started working. So now when poor Freddie tries to complain about being tired or the school day being long, she tells him “I was working 12-hour days when I was your age.” Poor kid, he’s got no out now.

Baby Cleopatra!

Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram

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14 Responses to “Christina Ricci: ‘people like to assume I’m stupid before I open my mouth’”

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  1. Silver Charm says:

    As a fellow short person I’ve never had people assume I’m stupid bc of my size and I’ve never thought that about her? Though people who constantly need to crowbar the fact that theyre small into conversation are deeply insecure. See also: Anna Kendrick.

    • Saba says:

      Just because you’ve had a generally positive experience regarding your stature, doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone. Your comment comes across as rather gaslighty. Christina, Anna and countless other vertically challenged people I know do speak up about being judged, underestimated, treated differently and infantilised, in ways taller people aren’t. Heck there are even studies on the phenomenon. Please don’t discount the experience of others just because it isn’t your own.

      • Silver Charm says:

        Disagreeing and pointing out my experience that I’ve never had stature tied to intellect is not gaslighting. Saying I had a positive experience when I never said that in my original comment is. Please do not put words in my mouth just bc you disagree.

      • HelloDolly! says:

        I was just going to say that my bestie who is barely 5 ft (maybe 4 ft something?) was touched SO OFTEN by men while she was pregnant. Obviously, men touching my pregnant friend isn’t simply based on her height, but I am sure her stature was part of it. Multiple men thought it was fine to literally walk up to her and touch her stomach as they spoke to her! Even in a professional setting! Just writing this down sounds crazy.

    • TOM says:

      See and I always assumed she was smart. It was the Thursday Addams thing, I guess.

      • Saba says:

        Onscreen, if someone is tiny, you won’t really notice as actors are boosted up on crates so that faces are similarly captured within a frame.

        So I think what Christina means is that she is infantalised and judged for being small and cute IN PERSON when they see her and she hasn’t had a chance to open her mouth yet.

  2. SourcesclosetoKate says:

    It’s true and doubly so if you’re small and a minority woman. You have to prove yourself for things other people get naturally.

  3. BothSidesNow says:

    I have adored Christina since Mermaids!!! She has grown into such a lovely young lady with the chops to show for it. I especially love her statement, “How do we know she’s angry if she’s smiling?”. That is a powerful statement that brings me pause to fully reflect this analogy. It’s so fitting yet truthful in its entirety.

    Now as one that is challenged with height, I understand her perplexity with regard to people thinking that you aren’t a full adult due to your size. Though I have never been subjected to people touching me they do act like I am not a full grown woman with a brain and intellect.

  4. ooshpick says:

    She’s doing a great job on the show. I am a small woman and quite smart if I do say so myself. I am curious about what she is saying. I am small with a curvy figure. Men generally sexualized me when I was younger. It was kind of heartbreaking. My intelligence has never been taken into account by men except as a turn off or as secondary to my attractiveness.

  5. thinking says:

    I always assumed she was smart. Not sure if it’s because of the dark hair, her individual features, or just her general overall presentation and presence. (Like with Natalie Portman?). Well, I definitely never assumed she was dumb.

    Then again, I assumed Ginnifer Goodwin was smart (oddly, I’m not sure if it’s because of her face, shorter hair, and the way she speaks), and then I got a shock to realize how dumb she is in the recent story covered about her wanting to donate her husband’s sperm to her best friend without consulting him, and then sharing the story publicly. Whut.

    It’s funny how we individually perceive things. Go figure.

    I’m not dismissing Christina Ricci’s perception, however. I’m just laughing at how I perceive people, and sometimes get it right or wrong.

  6. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    Granddaughter#1 is 5′ even and was an honor roll student all 4 years of high school and is getting ready to pursue her esthetician license
    Her sister Granddaughter#2 will never be taller than 4’11” and speaks Japanese (she learned it “for fun Nana. Russian is next”) (!!!) and is so good with her art she’s won a number of awards for it.
    Size is irrelevant is my personal opinion

  7. Cortney says:

    I love this show. I’ve always loved Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis as actresses, so I’m living for Yellowjackets. 😭

  8. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I’m quite short and have always been touched by people lol. Over time, however, maturity and my attitude created a sort of impenetrable shield. BUT, once people know me, I’ve found I don’t have to say anything at all before they’re cracking up. I can’t figure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it is what it is lol.

  9. Ry says:

    I never saw the roles she played as stereotypically airheaded. In fact tjey always seemed loaded with faux innocence and duplicitous innuendo. Like a clever but dark small alien