Christina Ricci used to dread fittings and camera tests as a child star.

The Yellowjackets actress made her movie debut when she was only nine years old in the 1990 movie Mermaids alongside Cher and Winona Ryder. She went on to star in films such as The Addams Family, Casper, Now and Then, and Sleepy Hollow, among many more.

During an interview with Variety to celebrate her new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Ricci reflected on her child actor days and admitted she hated camera tests in particular because her appearance would be scrutinised.

“I hated fittings and I hated camera-test days because I knew those were the days when everyone would look at me and talk about what was wrong with me, with my appearance and what they needed to fix,” she shared. “‘We can’t ever shoot her from this side.’ Those kinds of things growing up I did not enjoy. I remember just dreading those days.”

While Ricci, now 45, disliked those experiences, she loved being a child star in general because it “really saved” her from her difficult upbringing.

“The film industry, it sort of rescued me from a childhood that was not very nice and a family that was not very safe,” she confessed. “So to be able to escape and do this thing where I was totally safe when I was getting validation from adults, and it was based on a skill that I had that was special, I think really, really saved me.”

Ricci’s Walk of Fame star was unveiled in Los Angeles on Thursday. Her Monster director Patty Jenkins and The Opposite of Sex co-star Dan Bucatinsky spoke at the event, while Ricci was supported by her family and Yellowjackets co-stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress and Sophie Thatcher.

© Cover Media