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Actress Christina Ricci has always been a bit obsessed with historys Eleanor of Aquitaine. Rumor has it that the 12th Century Queen ran a cult of courtly love in France that practiced the radical ideology that a marriage without love was no marriage at all. Eleanor, naturally, was charged with heresy by the Catholic Church and spent 15 years wasting away in a prison cell.

It's no secret that Ricci likes complex characters; there is something awfully romantic about their intricacies. From her early roles in The Addams Family and The Ice Storm, to Prozac Nation and Black Snake Moan, to this year's Penelope, the self-taught actress has proved her mettle with characters that seem to challenge her as much as the audience.

However its Riccis newest role, Trixie in the Wachowski brothers Speed Racer, that she calls ultimate feminist character. For an actress who once told reporters her dream role was that of a psycho killer, playing a girl without any major internal drama might come as a surprise. For drama, the people who do the most dramatic things are people with personal problems, Ricci told SuicideGirls during a recent roundtable interview. But recently Ive kind of grown up and become less afraid of sincerity, and I have a real vested interest in womens issues and the next generation of girls.

Read on for the full reveal on Ricci's choice to play a girl whose affinity for red lipstick and cute dresses never gets in the way of her ability to kick some ass.

Speed Racer is in theaters this Friday, May 9.


Question: What attracted you to this? What did you see in it? Or see in her?

Christina Ricci: I loved the idea of working with the Wachowskis; Id wanted to work for them for a while. And then Speed Racer was something that people had always mentioned to me, "Oh, theyre going to make Speed Racer, youd be a good Trixie." I was familiar with all the hipster paraphernalia and the Geico commercial, but Id never seen the cartoons. They sent me the script and I had to go and audition quickly after.

Q: What was your biggest challenge?

CR: There really werent any challenges. I didnt enjoy my haircut but that was really the only challenge. When you have long hair and all of a sudden you get a really drastic haircut its, you know, us ladies, we cry. But other than that, she was a great character to play. She was amazing, and fun, and they dressed me up like a doll every day. And then I got to do all this actiony stuff and I had a really good time.

Q: You've said before about the characters that you choose, that you like people who are afraid and ashamed of who they are this character seems to be the opposite.

CR: I dont like characters who are ashamed of who they are; I like complex characters and, for drama, the people who do the most dramatic things are people with personal problems. But recently Ive kind of grown up and become less afraid of sincerity, and I have a real vested interest in womens issues and the next generation of girls. And also looking around a little bit more and seeing all the really negative images that are out therefore young girlswhat are they supposed to grow up into if the only images they have out there are the Bratz? I mean, its crazy. So I really liked the fact that, to me, shes the ultimate feminist character. Shes as girly as she wants to be but she does everything the boys do and theres no commentary like, "Oh, its a girl flying a helicopter. Ooh." And the brothers are very much responsible for that kind of thing. They really have a strong sense of equality and interest in leaving the world a better place than they found it. So I was really excited about that.

Q: What was it like working with them?

CR: Theyre great. Theyre so much fun. Wonderful people. And so smart. Like at a party, the most interesting people to talk to. Working with them is great because they want to have a good time and they want everyone to be happy. So on a set its just like everyone hanging out, having fun, laughing, having a good time.

Q: The joys of green screen John [Goodman] compared it to working in really low budget theater where there are no props or sets.

CR: I liked it because it immediately created a bond amongst all the actors. A lot of our stuff, especially in the beginning of shooting, was all family stuff so it was all ensemble and all of us together. Immediately you walk into this big green room and you look at everyone else dressed in various hilarious costumes and you go, "Oh, okay, what are we doing today? Oh, its snowing." It was ridiculous but we were committing to it. We dont know whats around us but were going to do what they tell us to. It creates a bond thats really wonderful.

Q: I heard the script was quite long. Did any scenes of yours not make it in?

CR: No, the script was quite long but only because all of the action in the races was described, like, "He turns left, jumps over, and double triple jumps." Half of that stuff I didnt read. Race, race, race, who wins? Okay, good. I read all of the stuff that wasnt descriptive racing stuff.

Q: Was there time to have any fun off set in Berlin?

CR: Yeah, we had a great time. The brothers threw a lot of parties and different people on the crew threw parties. A lot of the actors went out and socialized among themselves. We were all staying in the same hotel so we went out in the evenings together. It was just really fun. It was summer in Berlin which didnt necessarily make it warm, but there were some warm days that we went out and had a good time.

Q: Did you get to ride the [race car] gimbals, the more physical stuff?

CR: Yes, it was so much fun. I love doing that stuff. I was getting little battle injuries. Battle scars. You get banged around in the gimbal thing so much. I had bruises and at one point I had to get out and throw up because its a lot of shaking and craziness. But it was really fun. I had a good time.

Q: Any tricks you wish your car could do?

CR: Id like to be able to jump over people, jump over other cars. That would be pretty good. Also that whole changing the tire thing by leaping up in the air, that would be great. I just learned to change a tire myself. It would be so much easier if I could leap up and press D.

Q: You had black Converse on when you met the guys and you were nervous, tell the story...

CR: I thought I gave a horrible audition and at one point I caught Andys eye and he looked at my sneakers and I looked at his and looked back up at him and smiled, "Maybe the Chuck Taylors will work?" but I thought I gave a horrible audition.

Q: What do you think of the visual style of the movie? Was it what you thought?

CR: I dont think any of us could have known what was in their heads completely. What they have managed to create is so much bigger and more beautiful and engaging than anything I thought was going to be up there. Its really incredible. Its like nothing Ive ever seen before so its sort of hard for me to explain it. I cant wait to see peoples reactions to it.

Q: It takes some faith to stand there...

CR: Yeah, thats the thing about the two directors, they inspire such confidence and trust because you can tell, they have this complete vision in their heads. And youd be doing yourself a huge disservice to not trust them and just do what they tell you to because how are you going to possibly know whether what youre doing is going to match whats in their heads unless they tell you?

Q: Do they contextualize it for you?

CR: Yeah, completely, you can know as much about the production design and the effects as you want to. The art department was always open for us to go in, and they gave us storyboards and images. You could know as much as you wanted to or as little as you wanted to. But still, though, its their vision and their touch and who they are that makes the movie ultimately look the way it does.

Q: Did you have any input going in?

CR: Yeah, I mean you go in and youre like, "I dont like the way that looks on me" or "That I love," but I was really into all the designs. Kim Barrett was our wardrobe designer and I loved all of her stuff. It became really fun.

Q: Talk about working with Emile [Hirsch]...

CR: Hes really a sweet, sweet kid. We had such a good time together. When I read he already had the part and was reading with me and he was so helpful and really nice. Ive read with a lot of people who are not necessarily so giving. Theyve already got the part so what do they care? Those people are not nice. But Emile was really helpful, really wonderful. Then working on the set with him was really fun. The whole cast had such a good time. Everyone was always laughing and making fun of each other. Just fun.

Q: Are you a fan of anime or manga comics?

CR: I think theyre pretty.

Q: You said you were interested in promoting girl power and feminist issues. Is there a character from history youd like to portray?

CR: Thats a good question. Ive always been obsessed with Eleanor of Aquitaine. But I dont know if thats because of any feminist belief I have. I have to go back and revisit the story.

Q: Do you get the sense at the end that [the Wachowski brothers] were still passionate and had more stories to tell in this universe?

CR: Oh yeah. Larry and Andy created a world that they love and created characters that they love and are attached to and when we were leaving we were all like, "Write the sequel! We want to come back!" They were like, "I know, I know, were going to, dont worry." They were as sad for it to be over as we were.

Q: Do you think theyd want to jump right back in?

CR: Yeah, definitely. I do. Thats definitely the impression I got.

Q: Do you enjoy the audition process or is it just for bigger movies like this?

CR: I actually dont mind auditioning. But you have to audition for movies like this. Theres a lot of money at stake and a lot of people have input.

Q: The little girl Trixie punches out a girl for dissing her man. Would you do that if somebody dissed your man?

CR: No.

Q: Would you yell at them?

CR: It depends on what they said. Id probably strike back verbally, something snide and quiet.


For more information go to the official Speed Racer site.