Christina Ricci calls child stardom an 'escape' from 'real life'

Christina Ricci liked acting as a child because the work allowed her to "escape" from "a horrendous childhood".

While speaking to Entertainment Weekly for a new interview, the Yellowjackets star discussed how her rise to stardom as a child wasn't as bad as her real life.

"When I first started, and still as adults, this career has always been an escape for me," Christina recalled. "As a kid, it was an escape from, like, a horrendous childhood and just getting to go away - be in hotels and be on set and be with other adults and be valued. All the little things that sort of are negative about the industry and the career, they've always been things that I've just been like, 'Well, real life is worse.'"

Christina made her film debut at the age of nine in Mermaids, which was swiftly followed by her breakout role as Wednesday Addams in the 1991 film The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values.

While she agreed that certain aspects of Hollywood were "difficult to navigate" as a child, the actress added, "I also think that I really benefited from this place in time where gradually things have been getting better and are so much better now. We benefit from all the amazing work that younger generations are doing."

At an event for The Family Place, the largest domestic abuse support provider in Texas, last year, the Casper actress discussed growing up in an "abusive and violent household".