Christina Ricci knows what it is like to be famous at a young age after starring in her film, Mermaids, at the age of nine. However, there was a cost to working in a grown-up environment at such a young age — there were discussions about her changing body as she went through puberty that should have never happened.
These conversations at such a tender time in a young teen’s life made an imprint on how she viewed herself. “People would basically all get together and look at you and decide how to fix everything that was wrong with you,” she told Today Parents about what happened during wardrobe fittings. “And I never enjoyed those days of everybody talking about my flaws.”
The most awkward part of these discussions often happened with older men openly sharing their thoughts on how to make her look more like a kid, not the young woman she was becoming. “When I was 12 or 13 and started to have boobs, they would talk about how to make me look less womanly,” Ricci explained. “It made me really uncomfortable. I did not enjoy that.”
As a result, it led to an eating disorder because Hollywood often didn’t “consider” her feelings, especially when it came to topics about her body during puberty. Ricci is changing that narrative for her own young family, which includes her son Freddie, 8, and 9-month-old daughter, Cleopatra “Cleo,” so that they can have a better relationship with their bodies and overall health. It was a hard lesson learned at such a vulnerable age, but Ricci is empowering her family to think differently.
Before you go, click here for more celebrities who’ve spoken out about being body-shamed.
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