Christina Ricci made her screen debut in the 1990 Richard Benjamin-directed American family comedy-drama film ‘Mermaids’ where she played the role of ‘Kate Flax.’ The film garnered praise from critics and went on to receive a 74% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ricci also won the ‘Young Artist Award’ for her performance in the film. The following year, she starred in the American buddy cop action comedy film ‘The Hard Way’ directed by John Badham. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $65.6 million on a $24 million budget. The same year, she also portrayed ‘Wednesday Addams’ in the Barry Sonnenfeld-directed American supernatural black comedy film ‘The Addams Family.’ The film opened to a mixed reception but turned out to be a major financial success, grossing over $191.5 million on a $30 million budget. In 1993, she reprised her role as ‘Wednesday Addams’ in the American supernatural black comedy film ‘Addams Family Values’ directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. The film was a sequel to the 1991 ‘The Addams Family’ and received positive reviews from critics. It was also a financial success and grossed over $111 million on a $47 million budget. Ricci next portrayed ‘Kathleen "Kat" Harvey’ in the 1995 American supernatural comedy-drama film ‘Casper’ directed by Brad Silberling. Even though the film opened to a mixed reception, it performed well at the box office, grossing over $287.9 million on a budget of $55 million.
Ricci went on to star in films such as ‘Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain’ (1995), ‘Bastard out of Carolina’ (1996), ‘The Last of the High Kings’ (1996), ‘That Darn Cat’ (1997), ‘The Ice Storm’ (1997), ‘The Opposite of Sex’ (1998), ‘Buffalo '66’ (1998), ‘Small Soldiers’ (1998), ‘200 Cigarettes’ (1999), ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999), ‘Bless the Child’ (2000), ‘The Man Who Cried’ (2000), and ‘All Over the Guy’ (2001). In 2001, she played the role of ‘Elizabeth Wurtzel’ in the psychological drama film ‘Prozac Nation’ directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg. The film failed to impress the critics and currently sits on a 29% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She continued to star in films like ‘Pumpkin’ (2002), ‘The Gathering’ (2003), ‘Anything Else’ (2003), ‘Monster’ (2003), ‘Cursed’ (2005), ‘Penelope’ (2006), ‘Black Snake Moan’ (2006), ‘Speed Racer’ (2008), ‘All's Faire in Love’ (2009), ‘Alpha and Omega’ (2010), and ‘Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star’ (2011). In 2011, she joined the cast of the American period drama television series ‘Pan Am’ as ‘Margaret "Maggie" Ryan.’ The series was canceled after one season in 2012. Ricci next appeared in films like ‘Bel Ami’ (2012), ‘The Smurfs 2’ (2013), ‘Around the Block’ (2013), ‘The Hero of Color City’ (2014), ‘Mothers and Daughters’ (2016), ‘Teen Titans: The Judas Contract’ (2017), ‘Distorted’ (2018), ‘Percy’ (2020), and ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ (2021). She was last seen playing the role of ‘Laura’ in the 2022 American supernatural thriller film ‘Monstrous’ directed by Chris Sivertson. The film holds a 54% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes.