Christina Ricci was born on Feb. 12, 1980, in Santa Monica, CA but raised mainly in the liberal upper middle class town of Montclair, NJ. Her mother was a former Ford model-turned-real estate agent, while her father was a psychiatrist. He specialized in experimental “scream therapy,” which could cause one to wonder if the regular shrieks of terror emanating from his in-home practice might have had something to do with the young girl’s unusually guarded, despondent demeanor. Whatever the source of her unsettlingly mature vibe, it was obviously apparent to a local theater critic who approached her after a performance in a school play (he had come to watch his son) and suggested some avenues for the eight-year-old to get into the professional arena. Right out of the gate, she landed several commercials, before quickly advancing to a supporting role in the critically acclaimed “Mermaids” (1990), playing the long-suffering daughter of town floozy Cher and sister of the obsessively religious teen, Winona Ryder – to whom she loosely resembled.

Ricci made such a strong first impression – including winning a Young Artist Award – that the following year, she was cast in the career-defining role of Wednesday Addams in the wildly popular big screen version of “The Addams Family” (1991). This second role established Ricci as the go-to actress for unconventional young girls cursed with the lethal combination of intelligence and world-weary cynicism. Following the release of the popular sequel “Addams Family Values” (1993), her life was upended by the acrimonious divorce of her parents. Ricci went to live with her mother and began attending the Professional Children’s School in New York, a private school catering to the needs of teens with careers in entertainment. In 1995, she returned to the screen in the audience favorite (but critical flop) “Casper,” lending her macabre tendencies to the adaptation of the beloved “friendly ghost” cartoon. More in keeping with the drama that first earned her reputation, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award as part of the ensemble cast of “Now & Then” (1995), a beloved chronicle of four female friendships spanning several decades. Ricci next landed a supporting role in Showtime’s Emmy-winning adaptation of Dorothy Allison’s heartbreaking “Bastard Out of Carolina,” as well as appearing in more lighthearted family titles like “Golddiggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain” (1995) and “That Darn Cat” (1997).

In 1997, however, Ricci began to shift away from the more benign films and make a name for herself in more challenging and independent fare. The film adaptation of Rick Moody’s “The Ice Storm” (1997), directed by Ang Lee, only received limited theatrical release but was one of year’s critical picks and enjoyed increased popularity as a DVD release. Ricci received multiple award nominations for her outstanding portrayal of a promiscuous teen in a dysfunctional suburban 1970s family. She enjoyed even greater success with “The Opposite of Sex” (1997), earning a Golden Globe nomination and overwhelming critical kudos for anchoring the dark comedy about a cynical teen whose pregnancy upends her untraditional family.

The following year, Ricci truly came into her own with half a dozen well-respected, largely independent dramas. She was complicated, vulnerable, and eye-poppingly gaudy in actor-director Vincent Gallo’s oddly engaging “Buffalo 66,” playing a kidnap victim forced to pose as her abductor’s wife in order to impress his parents. She followed up with more outsider roles, including that of a Barbra Streisand-obsessed artist in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and a laundromat owner who finds instant fame in John Waters' gently subversive comedy, "Pecker.”

In 1999, Ricci returned to the realm of wide releases when she appeared opposite Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's haunting rendition of "Sleepy Hollow." Her blond hair in the film was the first step Ricci took towards a new look, and an indication that the independent young adult was caving to the pressures of Hollywood. Even when she reverted back to her black hair, the once pleasantly voluptuous actress slimmed down to a waif-like body, later admitting that she had struggled with anorexia in addition to earlier battles with self-injury and depression. Ricci’s personal background certainly made her a qualified candidate for the screen adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel’s “Prozac Nation,” which was lensed in 2001. With her newly-formed production company, Ricci took on producing duties of the project, in addition to starring as a troubled young woman trying to deal with her depression and chemical addictions. The film would have provided a much-needed declaration of Ricci’s adulthood, however it was shelved for several years reportedly due to the distributor’s uneasiness over the controversial subject matter and the film never hit theaters, only premiered on the Starz! Network in 2005 and a year later, released on video in the U.S.

In 2002, Ricci again produced and starred in a pet project; this time, the film "Pumpkin," a controversial dark comedy about a sorority girl who falls for a disabled man. After detouring through a slate of questionable thrillers ("Miranda" and "The Gathering"), Ricci took a highly publicized stint on the final season of TV's "Ally McBeal" (Fox, 1997-2002) as the provocative young attorney, Liza Bump. She returned to the big screen as a neurotic actress who intentionally or unintentionally tortures smitten writer Jason Biggs in Woody Allen's weak "Anything Else" (2003). After a turn in "I Love Your Work" (2003), the directorial debut of her then-beau, actor Adam Goldberg, Ricci seemed back on her game, earning praise for her turn in the harrowing "Monster" (2003). Based on the life of drifter and female serial killer Aileen Wournos (Charlize Theron), the film resonated with moviegoers, and Ricci as Selby, the young lover who may or may not have turned a blind eye to Wournos' string of murders (a slightly fictionalized version of Wournos' real-life companion, who ultimately testified against her in court), had one of her most effective dramatic roles to date.

From "Monster" to a genuine monster movie, Ricci teamed with director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson for the werewolf thriller, "Cursed" (2005), but received more notice for her Emmy-nominated guest spot on the television medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005- ), then at the peak of its popularity. In a post-Super Bowl episode which was widely watched by even more viewers, Ricci played an inexperienced paramedic whose hand must remain inside a patient's chest to prevent an unexploded artillery shell from detonating. After a brief, almost inconsequential appearance in “Home of the Brave” (2006), a heart-wrenching tale about a National Guard unit in Iraq sent on a humanitarian mission, Ricci gave a strong performance in “Black Snake Moan” (2007), a bold, if controversial, film about a promiscuous woman trying to be rehabilitated by a God-fearing blues singer (Samuel L. Jackson).

Ricci’s first 2008 release, the Reese Witherspoon-produced “Penelope” was a disappointing attempt at fantastical comedy that missed the mark of masters of the genre like Tim Burton. Forced to wear a pig snout through the majority of the film, it did little for Ricci’s image, as it marked yet another outcast teen role for the nearly 30-year-old actress. Later in the year, Ricci would go wide with a co-starring role in the highly-anticipated “Speed Racer,” a high-tech adaptation of the Japanese cartoon cult favorite from the 1960s, co-starring Emile Hirsch and Matthew Fox.