There are those who have more range in accents (e.g. Meryl Streep) and facial expressions (i.e. Jennifer Lawrence), but Christina Ricci has the quintessential filmography of an actress. When you look at the range of films that she’s been in, she embodies what it means to be a successful child movie starlet, a teen movie star and an adult movie thespian. With that said, I rate her as 8/10 (fantastic). In 2008, she was the most beautiful actress on the planet (on the strength of David Shankbone’s photos). She should’ve been bigger than Megan Fox, especially since she’s kissed enough women on camera to make people think that she’s bisexual. The irony is that if Christina was taller, she would have been the most successful model on the planet. Like a would-be supermodel, her small height curtails her career.
The reasons why her career never took off in the way that it should was because she was rejected for certain movies and appeared in movies which were rejected by the international audience at the box office. She was rejected for the latter titular character in Romeo + Juliet. Claire Danes wouldn’t have been as big if Ricci won, although some may say My So-Called Life (starring Danes) circumvents that. Kate Winslet wouldn’t have been as big had Ricci not rejected her role in Titanic. Another Kate, Hudson, owes her career to Ricci not winning the role of Penny in Almost Famous. Speaking of names with similar sounds, Ricci auditioned for the role of Jenny in Gangs of New York. That role was won by Cameron Diaz.
It’s worth pointing out that she lost to Kirsten Dunst for Interview with the Vampire and Little Women. Her career as a child actress would’ve reached an apotheosis had she played the role of Lex Murphy in Jurassic Park (the role was given to Ariana Richards despite herself being in less famous movies). Thora Birch would never have been an indie darling had Christina not moved away from Ghost World. Christina would’ve been perceived as the most gorgeous geek, daintiest dork or nubile nerd had she been cast as Velma (instead of Linda Cardellini) in Scooby-Doo. However, that may have hindered her being cast in dark projects.
What’s hindering her in the long run is bad luck with some of her choices. Cursed was delayed for reshoots because Dimension wanted a PG-13 instead of an R. The film’s box office and critical reception suffered. The Craft (not starring Ricci) had the same fate. As for the director of Cursed, Dimension had permitted Wes Craven to have Scream be an R. Therefore, you would think that they would have allowed him this leeway seven years later for Cursed. Unlike action, Horror should always be R-rated. What happened was that Cursed was going to be competing against Freddy vs. Jason, so Dimension thought that they would profitably compete against New Line Cinema if Cursed had a PG-13 rating.
As for Xina (i.e. X = Christ), All Faire’s In Love and Penelope were indefinitely shelved because of Cursed failing to launch her to the next level of stardom. She rejected Waking the Dead for its erotic content despite having auditioned four times for Lolita. She has been in other salacious films – Prozac Nation, Miranda, After.Life, Black Snake Moan (the sleaziest film that she has been in), Bel Ami and Around the Block. She rejected The Rules of Attraction due to the rape scene. Xina should’ve been a household name based on the number of famous directors and stars who she has worked with (making a list of the latter is too daunting of a task). It just goes to show you that it really is true about a star being as successful as their last film.
Pop Cult Master 