Christina Ricci Is Raising Son Freddie, 8, to Be a Feminist: He Says, 'Women Are Not Objects'

Mar. 15, 2025

Christina Ricci.Photo: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Christina Ricciis aware that her career as an actress is already having an impact on her young children.

In an interview withThe Guardianpublished Monday, theYellowjacketsstar, 42, said her 8-year-old sonFreddie"won’t be able to avoid" having a feminist perspective as a result of his mom and stepdad.

“My husband,Mark [Hampton], is, I hate to say it because it sounds really obnoxious, a feminist,” Ricci said. “AndFreddie is going to see that, and see his working mother.”

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The actress, who is currently playing strong female characters on two separate series — Misty Quigley onYellowjacketsand Marilyn Thornhill onWednesday— said her son, whom she shares with exJames Heerdegen, also has an acute awareness about how women are perceived.

“He’s asking questions like, ‘Mom, is that racist?’ Or, ‘Mom, is that okay for women?’ " Ricci toldThe Guardian. “He’s got this whole thing about not calling objects – like boats – she. He’ll correct me: ‘Women are not objects.’ "

Freddie, for his part, has actually been paying attention for quite a while. In aninterview with PEOPLE in 2018, Ricci revealed that he was asking her questions about her job even at age 3½.

“He’s come home from preschool and been out in the world and said to me, ‘Mama, are you a movie actress?’ " she recalled. “And I didn’t say that to him. People mention it to him, clearly. Ihave to then explain tohim what it is, and we’ve shown him movies.”

Some of the movies Freddie screened included the earliest forays into acting for Ricci, who also shares 1-year-old daughterCleowith husband Hampton.

“In the beginning, he didn’t want to see anythingwhere Mommy looked differentand then he started actually requesting [films],” said the star.

Ricci explained that she showed her son her 1995 movieCasper, “and then we realized he hadn’t developed that ability to discern reality from fiction.”

She continued, “He started asking me about my childhood with my best friend, the ghost,” she said, laughing, about the family film. “And we were like, ‘Oh! Too soon.’ For a while, he was asking mea lot about ghosts andliving alone with my dad and being a ghost and we were just like, ‘Oh no!’ "

source: people.com