Feb 19, 2008 - Christina Ricci's starred in over three dozen films but it wasn't until the romantic fairy tale Penelope that she made a real pig out of herself. Penelope sets itself apart from the rest of Ricci's roles as it’s the very first film in which she’s had to wear a pig nose for most of the production. Ricci plays Penelope, the first daughter born into a long line of wealthy, upper-crust Wilherns. Being the first child of the female sex born into the family has one huge drawback: she’s the unfortunate victim of a curse cast on her family generations before she was ever a twinkle in her dad’s eye. Penelope came into the world sporting a pig’s nose that won’t go away until a member of her own class loves her just the way she is.
Penelope is a gentle, family-friendly tale (rated PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language) with an important message for young people. “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 you have to accept who you are,” said Ricci of the film’s moral. “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 one 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 a little bit, or a lot, 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 sort of priorities.”
“I have really amazing, strong women in my life, and for most of my life, that I’ve worked with, and that really have molded me into who I am,” explained Ricci about the influences in her life. “I always had women like that in my life. And then, my sister is incredibly smart and strong. She always wants to do the right thing, so she really 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.’”
The fake pig nose was molded to match Ricci’s nostrils so, while it was uncomfortable, at least she was able to breathe without any problem. “It took about an hour and a half,” explained Ricci about the process of attaching the fake nose. “It’s not fun to have something glued to your face. It just isn’t. It wasn’t really that bad. It didn’t take that long. And, 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 like 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. So, I felt that if I started late in the day, then I could tolerate three hours of being really irritated.”
Ricci remembers the very first nose was a lot different from what they wound up actually using in the movie. “The first one they put on me was a little bit too hideous and scary and kind of nasty looking. Mark [Palansky, director] and Scott [Steindorff, producer] wanted to have it really be hideous looking. And then all the girls in the room were like, ‘Uh uh. We want that one that looks like Miss Piggy and is cute.’ And so somewhere in the middle, we found it.”
Keeping Ricci away from the public while they were filming in London was a challenge. “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, or something, and they would just panic,” explained Ricci. “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?’”
Ricci hasn’t played it safe over the course of her career, but says playing a character like Penelope isn’t something she would call ‘brave’ - even though the film’s producers label it so. “I think that I have a slightly different set of what I view as risky or dangerous or something I should be cautioned against,” said Ricci. “It never would occur to me that it’s brave to do a part with a prosthetic on your face. [Laughing] 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. And then, for other things, I did know that obviously 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 one. 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. But then 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 because we wore no make-up and I was all 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. Maybe this is too whatever.’ But then, someone will explain to me why it’s a little risky and then I’m like, ‘Ah, okay.’ But, I think that I have just a slightly skewed version of the world.”
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Penelope hits theaters on February 29, 2008.
