Christina Ricci’s best movies and TV shows expand from her days as a child actor all the way to her recent memorable roles. Ricci began acting in movies and television at a young age, quickly finding high-profile projects like Mermaids and The Addams Family. Her adorable performances helped to make her one of the most sought-after and acclaimed child actors of the early 1990s, but she was destined to avoid the traps of many child stars and continue on with her career into adulthood.

Ricci excelled at constantly reinventing herself as an actor throughout her life in the spotlight. She avoided being typecast with bold and unexpected choices that allowed her to work with directors like Tim Burton and Patty Jenkins, as well as take chances in the world of indie movies. In recent years, Ricci has also found acclaim with her work on the small screen, proving that decades in the business have only made her a more fascinating and skilled performer.

10 The Opposite Of Sex (1998)

As Dedee Truitt

As Christina Ricci got older and moved away from child actor roles, she proved herself willing to take on more unlikable characters and provocative material. This is certainly the case with The Opposite of Sex, a dark comedy starring Ricci as a teen who becomes pregnant and runs away from home. Arriving at the home of her gay older brother, she seduces his boyfriend, convinces him it is his baby she’s pregnant with, and wreaks havoc on their lives.

Ricci earned a Golden Globe nomination for her hilarious and devilish performance. She embraces Dedee's abhorrent nature while also making her completely entertaining. The movie is filled with fun characters and outrageous situations, but it is also a profound story of sexuality at a time when some of these subjects were still not addressed very much in the mainstream.

9 Casper (1995)

As Kathleen "Kat" Harvey

Christina Ricci’s early career was filled with roles that touched on fun, darker material. While The Addams Family is likely the most famous example of this, Casper is another nostalgic hit from Ricci’s career. The movie brings the popular comic strip character Casper the Friendly Ghost to the big screen for the first time with the help of some impressive CGI. Ricci plays Cat, the daughter of a paranormal investigator (Bill Pullman) who is hired to exercise Casper and his nefarious ghost uncles from their mansion home. However, Casper and Cat soon form a deep friendship.

Ricci is charming and funny as this outcast girl who is just looking to have a normal childhood. The movie is a fun family-friendly adventure that has become a favorite to watch during the Halloween season for all ages. There are also some surprising cameos, including Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood.

8 Sleepy Hollow (1999)

As Katrina Anne Van Tassel

Before working together on Wednesday, Christina Ricci and Tim Burton teamed up for the supernatural horror movie Sleepy Hollow. The movie is another collaboration between Burton and Johnny Depp with the actor taking on the role of Ichabod Crane. In this version of the story, Crane is a forensic investigator who travels to the village of Sleepy Hollow to look into a series of murders. There he encounters the Headless Horseman and uncovers a dark, sinister conspiracy.

Ricci takes on the role of Katrina Anne Van Tassel, the daughter of the town’s richest resident who becomes a love interest for Crane. Ricci is charming and alluring but also holds an eccentric side that makes Crane slightly weary of her. Overall, Sleepy Hollow is a thrilling and gory horror adventure that serves the creepy legend well.

7 Wednesday (2022)

As Marilyn Thornhill / Laurel Gates

Wednesday Addams was one of the roles that helped to make Christina Ricci a star, so it is a lot of fun to see her return to the world of the Addams Family in the Netflix series Wednesday. Jenna Ortega steps into the titular role, playing teenage Wednesday who is sent to a boarding school where her dark sensibilities make it hard for her to fit in with the other students. However, Wednesday finds purpose by investigating a mystery within the school.

Ricci s the cast with some nostalgic fun as Marilyn Thornhill, a teacher at Nevermore Academy. Her fun performance fits into the oddball tone of the show that works so well. As iconic as Ricci is in the role, Ortega makes it her own in this funny, exciting, and twisted series that reinvents the lore in some memorable ways.

6 The Ice Storm (1997)

As Wendy Hood

Christina Ricci ed a strong cast of acclaimed actors in a drama from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee. The Ice Storm is set in the 1970s and follows a suburban family over the Thanksgiving holiday consisting of a father (Kevin Kline), mother (Joan Allen), son (Tobey Maguire), and daughter (Ricci). Though a seemingly perfect family, they are all hiding secrets within this household, including drug abuse and affairs.

Ricci shines among the impressive cast as the teenage Wendy. She captures the defiant nature of teenage life along with the uncertainty and anxiety that comes along with life at this age. It is a quiet and thoughtful movie that allows audiences to spend time with these complex characters and become involved in their relationships and drama. It remains one of Lee’s most underrated movies of his impressive career.

5 Buffalo ‘66 (1998)

As Layla

Christina Ricci began to move away from the mainstream family-friendly roles of her early career and began to take risks with some outstanding indie movies later in the 1990s. Buffalo ’66 was one of the movies that helped to cement this new stage of her career. The movie was written and directed by Vincent Gallo, who also stars as Billy, an ex-con who kidnaps a young woman named Layla (Ricci) so that she can pose as his wife when reuniting with his dysfunctional family.

The movie was an indie hit at a time when exciting new filmmakers were emerging as the new voices of Hollywood. Gallo’s style will not suit everyone’s tastes, but Ricci’s performance was universally seen as the highlight of the movie. She brings depth, humor, and power to the character to make the audience truly invested in this strange journey.

4 Monster (2003)

As Selby Wall

While Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning performance in Monster commands the movie, Ricci is exceptional in a ing role. Directed by Patty Jenkins, Monster tells the true story of Aileen Wuornos (Theron), a sex worker who turned to serial killing, murdering, and robbing the men who hired her. However, before being executed, she had claimed that all of the murders were committed in self-defense.

Ricci co-stars in the movie as Selby, a woman Aileen falls in love with and finds happiness with while embarking on this dark journey. The movie is a grim and dark crime drama with an unsettling protagonist at its center. However, it is worth enduring for Theron’s transformative performance, while the scenes between her and Ricci add different elements to the story as well. Monster is a film that shows how effective Ricci can be in key ing roles, elevating the project with a reserved performance.

3 Z: The Beginning of Everything (2017)

As Zelda Fitzgerald

Entering the more recent era of her career, Christina Ricci has found herself more drawn to television projects which have given her the opportunity to explore some of the best characters of her career. Z: The Beginning of Everything sees Ricci stepping into the role of one of the most influential women in American history, Zelda Fitzgerald. The series explores the tumultuous relationship between Zelda and her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, from their meeting to their entry into the world of literary success.

Zelda is a very daunting figure to take on, not only for her amazing legacy but also for how troubled she was as a person. The Amazon Prime Video original series was canceled after one season, but Ricci received strong reviews for her central performance, while the show was praised as an engrossing period drama.

2 Yellowjackets (2021-Present)

As Misty Quigley

Yellowjackets not only served as a comeback role of sorts for Ricci but also gave her one of her most acclaimed projects. The series is told in two separate timelines, with the first focusing on a high school girls' soccer team who survive a plane crash only to find themselves stranded in the wilderness and fighting for survival. 25 years later, the survivors of the ordeal are still living with those experiences with some of the choices coming back to cause trouble all this time later.

Ricci has one of the starring roles in the modern-day section of the timeline as Misty, the seemingly sweet woman who can be secretively manipulative and holds onto the killer instinct that helped her survive all those years ago. Ricci was nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes for her performance. The series mixes dark humor and sharp commentary into this gripping thriller that features an incredible ensemble cast.

1 Addams Family Values (1993)

As Wednesday Addams

As Christina Ricci was proving herself one of the best up-and-coming child actors in the business, Addams Family Values served as the movie that made her a true young star in Hollywood. The first The Addams Family movie brought this eccentric and macabre family to the big screen in a memorable way, but the sequel really elevated the franchise, digging more into the relationship between these characters and the dark sense of humor.

The movie features hilarious performances from the adult actors, like Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd, but Ricci completely steals the show as Wednesday Addams. She gets her own wonderful subplot of being forced to attend a preppy summer camp, which gives Ricci the chance to showcase her brilliant, dry comedic skills. It is the highlight of a truly zany comedy and the best Addams Family movie to date.