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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Christina Ricci

Aired January 13, 2002 - 17:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The annual Sundance Film Festival is underway in Utah. And many of the actors taking part there -- well, one of them is appearing in no less than three films that are being screened at this year's event. That distinction has earned her the nickname "The Queen of Sundance."

She is Christina Ricci, and she joins us live now from Park City, Utah.

Christina, you're just getting a taste of how we treat the stars: We put you on a rooftop out in the cold. Thanks for joining us.

CHRISTINA RICCI, ACTRESS: I know. No, thank you for having me.

LIN: Well listen, I want to talk to you about your role in "Miranda." I mean, three films -- you've been a busy young girl, but "Miranda" really was captivating in the sense that this is really a woman of mystery.

We're going to roll a quick clip, and then I want to ask you about your character.

Let's take a look at the film.

RICCI: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MIRANDA")

RICCI: I thought we were meeting in a conference room.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: How old-fashioned.

RICCI: Charles, glad you could join us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: He's just leaving.

RICCI: Stay.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yes, I think I should.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Have a drink Charles, downstairs.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: All right. This is a scene that I think just captures just a bit of the suspense in this movie and the mystery of who this woman is.

Tell me about her, and what this film is about.

RICCI: Well, Miranda is a con artist. So it was great for me, because I have all these different looks in film. And basically the film is about a hapless young man who has the misfortune of falling in love with my character and then getting sort of caught up in one particular scheme.

LIN: But she's a conflicted character, isn't she, because she's someone who's falling in love?

RICCI: What? I'm sorry, what did you say?

LIN: She's a conflicted character; I mean, this is a complicated woman who doesn't necessarily believe in everything she's doing. And now she might be believing in love a little bit.

RICCI: Yes, definitely. She's been a con artist since she was a child. John Hurt plays sort of my mentor.

And she has never fallen in love before. And she meets this man, who is played by John Simm, and she falls in love and can't really be in love with him because she can't have any emotional connections if she's going to be good at her job, and doesn't want to get him involved.

SO yes, she's very conflicted. And you have to like live her life lying constantly. So she's a little tortured.

LIN: What's really cool about this is that you get the thrust of what makes us all kind of tick -- what motivates us, and the consequences of that.

RICCI: Yes, definitely. I mean, when we catch up with her at the beginning of the movie, she's certainly -- you see her paying the price for all the bad things she's done and the greed that she's allowed herself to feel and all those kinds of things.

But she has a chance in this movie to redeem herself, which is kind of wonderful.

LIN: And a real departure for you in a second film called "Pumpkin."

We'll going to take a look at some of the video here because your character here is completely different. I mean, we get a view of this very preppy, elite world -- the sorority world; and one where your character -- talk about conflict -- comes across with dealing with the issue of human imperfection in this character we're seeing -- "Pumpkin" -- a guy in a wheelchair.

RICCI: Yes. No, she really -- she's never -- this is a girl who's never felt pain in her life. It's always been privilege and beauty. And all of a sudden she's, you know, falling in love; and with someone she's not allowed to fall in love with.

LIN: You co-produced this; what was that like for you?

RICCI: I did what? I'm sorry.

LIN: Weren't you one of the producers on this film?

RICCI: Yes, yes. I was involved really early. The film was brought -- the script was brought to my company, and myself and my former producing partner sort of -- we got it financed and helped cast and got everything together. And then we went to production, I sort of focused more on my performance. But yes, I'm one of the producers on it, and I'm really proud of it.

LIN: Is your character in this film the biggest departure that you've taken from previous characters? I'm so used to seeing you in these sort of dark, complex, vampy roles.

RICCI: Yes. I mean, pretty much the reason why I do films that -- parts that are considered dark is because the best thing to play as an actress is human conflict. And most of the time, you find the characters that are the most conflicted happen to be a little bit morbid and dark and hard to watch.

But this character really, as I said, is someone who comes from privilege and has always been happy and perfect her whole life. So it's kind of great to see her all of a sudden feel pain for the first time.

And there's one scene in the movie where she does turn like, a little bit dark and scary just for a brief second. And so I really like that. I like that you can someone who's so happy and up and really show that, you know, pain can turn them into the same thing that we with consider, you know, dark and morbid.

LIN: You don't shy away from the tough subjects, because the third film we're talking about is "The Laramie Project," which is based on the story of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten to death.

Why did you want to tackle this?

RICCI: Well, I had seen the play "The Laramie Project" in New York, and I just thought it was so amazing, so moving, and just handled so well. And then when I heard they were making a film, I just -- I put out there -- you know, got in touch and just said, you know, if there's any part that I could play, I would love to help with it. And then they got back and said that I could play Romein (ph), so I was excited.

LIN: We're watching the scene where there's a hate rally going on, and you're coming forth dressed what appears (sic) to be like an angel with a group of people. What's this about? RICCI: Well, I play Romein Patterson (ph), who's Matthew Shepard's best friend. And after he died, during the trial there was a reverend who came and would protest really horrible homophobic things and slogans and just really atrocious things. So what Romein did was set up like a silent protest. They all dressed up as angels; and basically they just marched out and surrounded him and all of his people so that nobody watching could see him and nobody could see all the signs and everything. And they just stood there and wouldn't move. It was like this incredibly beautiful thing she did.

LIN: Christina, it is so cool to see that someone so young, like yourself, is making not only a great artistic contribution, but a great statement about your own personal beliefs, and that you're willing to take risks in your projects.

Thanks so much for joining us, and we're going to look forward to seeing you in all three of your films.

RICCI: Thank you.

LIN: Thanks so much, and get warm.

RICCI: Thanks very much; OK.

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