Christina Ricci did a lot of research to prepare herself for her starring role in Craig Brewer's movie, Black Snake Moan. In the film Ricci plays Rae, the victim of abuse who suffers from intense anxiety. Samuel L Jackson co-stars as the man who uses unusual methods to help Rae overcome her troubles.
The Appeal of Playing Rae: “I think there are millions of women like Rae out there. The link between childhood sexual abuse and promiscuity in women and low self-worth and post-traumatic stress and low self-esteem, that link has been well established. And when I read the script, she was such an honest representation in a way without judgment on that kind of person. I thought, ‘Oh, it’s so great to see someone who’s not sugar coated,’ because that implies judgment.
Then when I started doing more research about survivors of childhood sexual abuse and really understanding and reading testimonials and statistics, and really understanding what she would be suffering from and the pain and fears and anxieties that were really her motivating emotions, I just felt so much compassion for her. I felt really compelled to kind of protect her by playing her.”
Asked if it was uncomfortable playing this type of character, Ricci replied, “Well, it’s not uncomfortable when you’re playing them. It’s uncomfortable to get into character because for me that’s somebody who expresses themselves and views the world in a polar opposite way than I do. But once I did all that research and I really understood where all these behaviors were coming from, those emotions are so strong that they’re kind of the easy ones to get lost in because they are so strong and overwhelming. It was difficult to kind of get into that mode of always seeing everything through this anxiety and this fear. But then once I was in that place, all the mannerisms and everything were really motivated from all that emotion. Once I was there, it wasn’t that hard.”
Decompressing Wasn’t as Difficult as Getting Into Rae: “Once you’re coming out of the character, I think that’s something that just slowly happens the more you start to look like yourself again, the more you’re in your own home again. And it was kind of funny because, you know, I’m a prude and I do not like walking around naked. I was in my bathroom about two months after the movie finished and I was brushing my teeth and I was in my underwear. I looked down and it was like, ‘Oh, god, put something on.’ And then I just stopped and thought, ‘Oh my god, I was half naked for two months and my ass was on camera.’
I called my sister and I was like, ‘oh my god, I can’t believe… Is it okay? I’m freaking out.’ She’s like, ‘No, no, it’s okay, you were playing a part.’ But it’s so interesting how when you come out of character and you become yourself again, you’re sort of like, ‘Oh, wow, uh… I guess that’s okay.’”
On the Necessity of Being on the Set Almost Naked: Ricci said it was important for her as an actress that the cast and crew develop some comfort level with her near naked appearance on the set. “It was really necessary for the crew to be used to it because I was playing someone who has no sense of her body and places no value on her body,” explained Ricci. “Her body has never done anything but cause harm. She has no regard for herself so she wouldn’t care if she were clothed or not. And as an actress, when you’re playing someone like that, I think it’s inappropriate for you to have any kind of vanity.
I needed to lose any sort of self-consciousness because I feel sometimes you can see self-consciousness in a performance when somebody is naked or in a nude scene. I really needed for that not to be there so to help me, I stayed the way I would be for the scene all the time - in order to get the crew really used to seeing me that way so that I was comfortable. Not only was I comfortable, but I would look at anybody’s face and not see them uncomfortable. Because if someone else is uncomfortable, it makes you feel like you’re doing something wrong.”
Developing a Level of Trust with Samuel L Jackson: “It was pretty immediate. He and I immediately, once we were doing rehearsals, kind of realized that we were going to work really well together and that we could really trust each other. I was so flattered by that because I’ve loved him for so long. I was kind of intimidated and kind of felt like, ‘God, I hope he likes me (laughs) and I hope he thinks I’m a good actress.’ So when I realized that he trusted me and respected me and I, of course, already trusted and respected him, it was amazing. To be able to rely on each other like that and know that we were in each other’s hands and in really good hands and you can be really vulnerable with that person, it was such a great feeling. It’s rare to have a partner like that in those scenes where you can just lose yourself, because you know you’re in someone’s hands who cares about you and will take care of you.”
Page 2: Christina Ricci on Her Character, Justin Timberlake, and Penelope
