BLACK SNAKE MOAN An Interview with Christina Ricci
By Wilson Morales

How would you describe the relationship between Rae and her mother? Do you think that’s the cause for herbeing how she is?

Christina Ricci: Well not only was she abused her whole life, but she was abandoned by the one person who was supposed to love her and that abandonment would have occurred when her mother allowed her stepfather to do what he did to her. And then to not be validated in what happened. That’s also extremely abusive to not validate somebody else’s painful, abusive experience. So that has a lot to do with her not ever having experienced any unconditional love and that’s really the thing, I think, that Lazarus gives her is this sort of unconditional love and respect and the basic respect that you just give another human being which she’s never really been given. And I think that’s what enables her to stop identifying herself with her past and sort of see a different person, see the person he sees.

Was it an easy decision to make this movie? Did you just decide, ‘I want to do this movie’?

Christina Ricci: Yeah, I did. I felt so strongly about Rae and about the experience that she and millions of others have survived and I felt a huge moral responsibility to do this and to do it right and to give it really the attention and the weight thatit deserved. And also I wanted to give her the dignity that had been stripped from her. In reading testimonials, one of the biggest things that I read over and over again is that what these people felt as children was rage at this humiliation. All of a sudden their dignity was taken from them. And then the rage continues and how can you expect me to behave with any dignity when you’ve stripped me of it. So I really wanted to give that back to her in a way and protect her by playing her.

Did you learn anything from Craig in regards to his vision of the South and the characters he’s had [inaudible]?

Christina Ricci: Well I know he’s very influenced by Tennessee Williams and I’ve always been a big Tennessee Williams fan so we talked about that and how that’s a big influence on the way he sees the South.

Was it hard to decompress from such a damaged character that you played?  

Christina Ricci: It was harder to get into character. Once you’re coming out of the character, I think that’s something that just slowly happens the more you start to look like yourself again, the more you’re in your own home again. And it was kind of funny because, you know, I’m a prude and I do not like walking around naked and I was in my bathroom about two months after the movie finished and I was brushing my teeth and I was in my underwear and I looked down and it was like, ‘oh, god, put something on.’ And then I just stopped and thought, ‘oh my god, I was half naked for two months and my ass was on camera.’ So I called my sister and I was like, ‘oh my god, I can’t believe… Is it okay? I’m freaking out’ and she’s like, ‘no, no, it’s okay, you were playing a part.’ But it’s so interesting how when you come out of character and you become yourself again, you’re sort of like, ‘oh, wow, uh… I guess that’s okay.’ (laughs)

For a role like this and all the research and testimonials and everything, does it make you kind of count your blessings in a way?

Christina Ricci: Oh absolutely. I read some statistics about re-victimization that are just horrifying and so painful. Over the years I’ve done a lot of work with RAINN and ever since I got into the research and really understanding what happens to these victims, I’m starting to work ever more with them now because I feel like one of the things I would like for someone seeing this movie who maybe is a survivor of sexual assault is to see that it could be 40 years ago, but you still need to get counseling, you still need to get help. You don’t have to report the crime, but for your own ability to move on and have a life, you need to get help. And so that’s the thing that I got from this movie that I hope other people will get from this movie and the thing that I’m working with RAINN right now to try to get that message out there even more.

Are you concerned that some male viewers might watch you in that role and get kicks watching it when they should instead be feeling sorry for the character?

Christina Ricci: Yeah, I mean that is my concern but because those kinds of men exist, we have child rapists and rapists and those are the people who create this problem and so I have concerns about them even beyond how they react to this film.

On a slightly lighter note, did you do anything special to get in shape physically for this role because you look great in it?

Christina Ricci: Oh, thank you. I  actually wanted her to look really unhealthy and like someone who didn’t take care of herself. The more you get into character, the easier it is to neglect yourself because she neglects herself. Someone mentioned something about looking like you’ve only been fed sugar your whole life so I started to eat only sugar and it kind of worked because I look really unhealthy in the movie. (laughs)

What kind of things did you eat?

Christina Ricci: Sugar. (laughs)

Ding Dongs or what?

Christina Ricci: Yeah, like basically nothing with nutritional value.

What’s the name of this organization that you’ve been working with?

Christina Ricci: RAINN.

RAINN? What does it stand for?

Christina Ricci: It’s Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network and they have a 24-hour hotline which is 1-800-656-HOPE. People can call and anonymously get referred to local counseling places and report crimes if they want to or just get the help they need.

What do people say to you about the poster and the kind of image that it portrays? It’s kind of interesting, in the office people were saying what they thought the movie would be about and somebody said it was probably sado-masochistic or something like that.

Christina Ricci: Well I feel like this movie has to be dissected from the inside out and at the very heart of this film is a story about two people who are in an incredible amount of pain who, by finding each other, manage to help each other heal. And then, as an actor, that’s how we look at it. And then the director comes and has a certain kind of style and vision that he wants to shoot the movie in. One of the themes for me making this movie -- and I know I talked to Craig about it andhe agreed – was this idea of the exploitation of women. And what I thought was so important about this film and what this film showed really well was how she’s been exploited her whole life to the point where she swallowed the exploitation and now as an adult she’s exploiting herself. And we used iconic images to sort of dress her in reference to these iconic, exploitive images. It’s showing how women are now regurgitating the exploitation that they are being put through. So that’s a lot of what that kind of thing in the film is about and I think that’s what the poster is about as well.

BLACK SNAKE MOAN opens on March 2, 2007

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