Christina Ricci Talks Working with Cher in 1990'sMermaids, Her First Film: ‘Every Good Thing You Believe About Cher Is True’

Mar. 15, 2025

From left: Winona Ryder, Cher and Christina Ricci in ‘Mermaids’ in 1990.Photo:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty

Sometimes superstars are also super people.

Christina Ricciopened up about working withCherwhile filming her very first movie on the Wednesday, Nov. 13, episode ofThe Drew Barrymore Show.Ricci, 44, and Barrymore, 49, were discussing their recent appearances inDemi Lovato’s documentaryChild Star, as well as their pasts as young actors. Ricci began working as an actress at just 7 years old, and when she was 9, she filmed her first movie: 1990’sMermaids,which starredBob Hoskins,Winona Ryder,Michael SchoefflingandCher.

“She’s the best,” Ricci told Barrymore of the “Believe” singer, 78. “Honestly, every good thing you believe about Cher is true. It’s really incredible. I mean, she was just so wonderful.”

Ricci remembered that when she felt confused on the film set, “She took the time to explain everything to me.” She also answered all of the young star’s questions about acting. “I remember once saying, she had to cry in a scene and she was doing the whole thing and she had headphones on and I was like, ‘How do you make yourself cry?’ And she explained her process to me.” Ricci noted that as actresses, she and Barrymore know that the day you have to cry on camera, “There’s a lot of pressure, there’s a lot of weight. You don’t wanna talk to anyone, blah, blah.”

“And she took the time to take her headphones off and just be like, ‘Well, here’s what I do.’ She was really amazing,” Ricci said.The Addams Familystar also appeared in the music video for Cher’s “The Shoop Shoop Song,” which appeared on the film’s soundtrack.

InMermaids, Cher played the single mother of Ryder and Ricci’s characters, who all struggle after moving to Massachusetts. Ricci’s character, Kate, is a competitive swimmer, and Ricci received a Young Artist Award for the movie.

Cher (left) and Christina Ricci in 1990’s ‘Mermaids’.Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock

Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock

In October, Ricci spoke to PEOPLEabout her career as a young actress, which included roles inCasper,Now and ThenandSleepy Hollow, as well as her iconic turn as Wednesday Addams in two films. “I just feel like I kind of lucked out,” Ricci said. “I was lucky as a young person at that time [with] where our culture was to play really interesting roles, interesting young girls and then interesting women.”

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Ricci’s roles were often introspective and involved a mystical element. “I wasn’t really capable of playing the other type of woman that was available or other type of little girl that they were writing for,” she said. “So I just feel like I was lucky that there were opportunities and parts and roles.”

In October, theYellowjacketsstarreleased a tarot deck that nods to her past works, called Cat Full of Spiders.

source: people.com