By Christina Radish

Christina Ricci at the "Penelope" premiere held at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Calif. on February 20, 2008.

Lemon (Peter Dinklage), a mischievous and eager tabloid reporter wants a photograph of the mysterious Penelope and hires Max Campion (James McAvoy) to pose as a prospective suitor to get the shot. The handsome, down-on-his-luck gambler finds himself falling for Penelope, but not wanting to disappoint her, so he decides to disappear. Fed up by his betrayal and determined to live life on her own terms, Penelope breaks free from her family and ventures into the world alone. Once there, she finds adventure and Annie (Reese Witherspoon), her first friend, as she heads down the path to the person she was meant to be. Searching for love where there seems to be none, Penelope discovers that what she’s been looking for all along, may be closer than she ever imagined.

Having recently completed production on Larry and Andy Wachowski’s live-action adaptation of the 1960's cartoon Speed Racer, slated for release in May 2008, 27-year-old Christina Ricci spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about wearing a pig nose for hours on end in Penelope, as well as doing all of the green screen work as Trixie in Speed Racer.

MediaBlvd Magazine> What was your biggest insecurity growing up?

Christina Ricci> My sister and I have two insecurities, which are pretty funny. Everyone has something. They’ll be like, “I’m worried that I look too . . .,” and it’s always the same thing that they’re worried about. Whenever we go out, me and my sister always ask each other, “Do I look butch?,” and “Do I look crazy?” Those are the two things we’re both terrified of. We’re terrified that we look crazy, and then on other days that we look like boys. It is really hilarious because we both have the exact same insecurities.

MediaBlvd> This film is rated PG, so what message do you hope young people take away from it?

Christina> I really hope that the strongest message that’s taken away is self-acceptance and self-love, and that you have to learn to love yourself and accept who you are. Specifically for women, and little girls, I like that she does it herself. She always had the ability to make her life full and to be the best version of herself that she wanted to be, and the only thing standing in her way was herself and her insecurities. I think that’s a very important thing for girls to know. A lot of our society is based on, “I’ll be happy once I have the right man,” or changing yourself, depending on who you’re with. The things women do to be with different men is just ridiculous. So, I think it’s important that we have young girls, that are growing up, learn to be really strong and independent and have the right priorities.

MediaBlvd> Did you have anything to help you through that sort of thing?

Christina> I have really amazing, strong women in my life that have molded me into who I am. And, my sister is incredibly smart and strong. She always wants to do the right thing, so she will go and find out what the right thing is and what it means for other people, and then she tells me and I’m like, “Great! Thanks for doing the research. I’ll do that then.”

MediaBlvd> What was it like wearing the pig nose? Was it uncomfortable to wear? How much time did you spend in make-up?

Christina> It took about an hour and a half. It’s not fun to have something glued to your face. It just isn’t. But, I had a rule that I wasn’t allowed to really acknowledge how irritating it was, or touch it or scratch it or complain, until we only had three hours left of the day because I knew that, if I started in the beginning, I would just be irritated all day long and want to rip it off my face. I felt that, if I started late in the day, then I could tolerate three hours of being really irritated.

MediaBlvd> When you saw the nose on your face for the first time, what was your initial reaction?

Christina> The first one they put on me was a little bit too hideous, scary and kind of nasty looking. (Director) Mark Palansky and (producer) Scott Steindorff wanted to have it be really hideous looking. But, all the girls in the room were like, “We want that one that looks like Miss Piggy and is cute.” And so, somewhere in the middle, we found it. It just looked like me with a fake nose on. It didn’t really disturb me, in any way.

MediaBlvd> Did you ever have to go on a coffee run with it on?

Christina> No. They were very sensitive about me being seen with the nose, so I couldn’t walk around. We would be on the streets of London and I’d want to go to Starbucks, and they would just panic. I’d walk out of the trailer and you’d see the P.A.’s panic and say, “Does she have her scarf on her face?” The scarf also made me look like a freak, so I just stayed inside.

MediaBlvd> Did you keep one of the noses?

Christina> I’m not very sentimental, so no.

MediaBlvd> The production design for this film was really beautiful and the costumes were amazing. What was it like to be in that space?

Christina> It was really fun. I loved any of the stuff that we did on the stages, when we were inside the house. It was so great to just be around that kind of stuff, and it really set a tone for everybody. I think production design is a great way to very succinctly inform a whole group of actors and crew as to what the tone of the film’s going to be, and how to fall in line and make themselves make sense within the environment that’s been created. Sometimes it’s harder to do that because you don’t have a common language yet with the director. So, I feel like, if you have strong production design like that, it’s really inspirational.

MediaBlvd> What Penelope has in her room is very reflective of who she is. What did you have in your room, growing up?

Christina> Penelope was encouraged to be very expressive. She couldn’t leave her house and I could actually leave my room, so I didn’t really feel as much of a need to do that. But, I was very much one of those kids that would go in my room and lie down on the carpet and daydream and talk to myself a lot. And, Penelope is definitely like that.

MediaBlvd> Did you have your favorite things on the walls?

Christina> Yes, I did. I shared a room with my sister for a really long time, and then I finally got my own room and it was just ridiculous looking. I got my own room when my oldest brother went to college. It was this little room, and I wanted to decorate it any way I wanted to because, living in the same room with my sister, she got to do whatever she wanted to. I don’t know why my mother even allowed this to happen, but I picked green and pink, and this horrible Laura Ashley duvet cover, and rose pink carpeting. But, the room I lived in before, with my sister, was purple. Now, every house I live in, I have a purple room, so I guess those were the more formative years for me.

MediaBlvd> Are you conscious of the fact that some of the roles you take, like Penelope, Black Snake Moan and Monster, are more brave or difficult than what many other actresses would choose to do? Are you nervous when you take them?

Christina> No. I think that I have a slightly different set of what I view as risky or dangerous or something that I should be cautioned against. It never would occur to me that it’s brave to do a role with a prosthetic on your face. Everyone knows I don’t have a pig nose, so I really don’t get why that’s particularly brave. It’s a part of the movie. Obviously, I did know that Black Snake Moan had a lot of things in it that you don’t do, unless you feel particularly passionate about the subject matter or storyline, and so I could understand why people balked at that. And then, in Monster, I did not want to wear that wig and look like that, as you can imagine, because of the crazy, butch fear I have. In the end, you might not want to look like that during the day, but really it’s part of the film. On Monster, I’ve never been so comfortable in my life ‘cause we wore no make-up and I was in boys’ clothes and it was loose and comfy. I was just like, “This is awesome!” It’s not my first reaction to be intimidated or scared or say, “Ooh, maybe I shouldn’t do this.” But then, someone will explain to me why it’s a little risky, and then I’m like, “Ah, okay.” I think that I just have a slightly skewed version of the world.

MediaBlvd> Did you have any hesitation about cutting your hair so short for your Speed Racer role?

Christina> Yes. I had spent the entire year growing it out, of course, which is what always happens. And, I kept calling my manager’s office and saying to them, “Will you call and tell them that, if they’re going to make a wig for me, they should probably get my measurements, or something, and start making it now.” And, everyone was like, “No, no, no, it’s going to be fine. They’re not going to do anything weird to your hair.” And then, I got some drawings of what the costumes were going to look like, and there were drawings of what Trixie was going to look like and, of course, she had a short bob hair cut. So, I just decided to embrace it and go with it. It was the Wachowski brothers. It’s Speed Racer. I can always ask for a wig on the second one. I feel like, if you do it once, then you’re justified in saying, “Okay, I did it, and I don’t want to anymore.”

MediaBlvd> Was the film very physical for you, or will they just CGI everything in?

Christina> Speed Racer was the most fun ever. That’s another example of a great role model character for girls because she’s smart, she’s funny and she does all the things the boys do. She kung fu fights, she drives a car, she races and she flies a helicopter. But, she has a specific outfit that she wears when she flies the helicopter, and her lipstick always matches something she’s wearing. She gets to be everything. She’s celebrated as a girl and a woman, but she’s also not treated any differently than the male characters are. So, it was so much fun, in that respect. I like being dressed up and I like doing stunts.

MediaBlvd> Even with all the green screen, it was still that much fun?

Christina> That made it hilarious. We’d walk on set and there would be half a helicopter, and then the rest of the thing was just green. And, it’s an ensemble piece, so there’s a lot of other actors to look at and just say, “What the hell is that? What scene are we shooting?” So, it just made it funny. We would just walk around and be like, “All right, so the mountain’s over there, and what is that? Oh, that’s the edge of the cliff. Okay, well, I shouldn’t be over there.” And then, towards the end of the day, all of the green would start to make you feel like you were tripping, so that was also, at times, enjoyable.

MediaBlvd> Have you seen any of the final footage yet?

Christina> The Wachowski brothers showed us 15 minutes, and it’s just amazing. It looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before. All the driving stuff is really exciting and thrilling. And then, it has this emotional element that’s actually quite moving. A lot of guys were crying at the end of the 15 minutes because there’s this real guy, sad thing. But, also, every character in it is a very specific, funny character. Mom (Susan Sarandon) is always going to have her apron on, and Sparky (Kick Gurry) is going to always be Chaplin-esque and funny, and Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam) will always be evil. It’s just fun. Everything about the movie makes it feel like an event movie, so that’s exciting.