Mrs.Brightside

Christina Ricci calls herself a 'killjoy' - but between her family life and a starring role on TV's hottest show, she's also found a path to happiness

- Angie Martoccio

If your perception of Christina Ricci is burned into your brain from the 90s when she broke into the public consciousness as the sullen child at the heart of the original Addams Family movie, then went on play a sullen teen in Casper, a sullen tomboy in Now and Then, and a sullen new kid in Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain - you'd be forgiven for struggling to see her any other way. She does, too. Over the course of an hour-plus lunch on an overcast winter's day in Los Angeles, Ricci will describe herself as "lazy", "unpleasant", "prickly", "immature", "unfriendly", "a contrarian", "a killjoy" and "a party pooper". She will voice strongly negative opinions about seemingly beneficial things like salads ("a waste of time"), vitamins ("I hate swallowing pills"), and houseplants ("I don't like bugs"). But she will also prove herself a deceptively good hang.

In a seafoam-green sweater and checked Vans, Ricci, 43, exudes the laid-back cool of a Southern California native, which she is. She seems downright giddy to be out to lunch - a rarity, perhaps, for a mum of two young kids and orders with gusto: a glass of red wine and a croque monsieur ("I almost got a steak," she admits). She enthuses about how she's been getting more into nature - "I actually really like birds now. Recently, I've started noticing trees" - flashes her dry sense of humour, and gushes sweetly about her children. Tucked into the clear case of her mobile phone is a fortune, from a cookie long since eaten, that no self-respecting pessimist would save: "Your goal will be reached very soon."