There are few celebrities who have contributed to the Halloween costume zeitgeist as much as Christina Ricci. The now 46-year-old has been acting since around the age of seven, achieving widespread fame at just 11 years old after portraying Wednesday Addams in 1991’s The Addams Family. Since then, Ricci hasn’t really known a world where people weren’t emulating her for Halloween.
“I can’t even remember the first time I saw somebody dressed as me,” she tells TZR. “I imagine it would have been way back when we were doing press for the actual [The Addams Family] movie release when I was really young, which is probably why I can’t remember. It became normalized for me [to see people dressed as me], very strangely. I’m just really used to it.”
Although the original 1964 television series about the supernatural household was decently well-received, it was Ricci’s film that skyrocketed the kooky family to mainstream stardom. The 1991 blockbuster was an instant hit with the general public, earning $191.5 million worldwide at the box office, far exceeding expectations from the studio and making back seven times what it cost to produce. It even earned a Best Costume Design nomination at the 64th Academy Awards for Ruth Myers’ comical-yet-painfully serious approach to the gothic characters’ closets.
Christina Ricci in Addams Family Values, 1993. Paramount Pictures/Moviepix/Getty Images
As a result of its major commercial success and distinctive visuals, the movie’s various personalities became a popular choice for Halloween get-up — particularly the easily recreatable image of 10-year-old Wednesday Addams. The sharp-tongued daughter of Morticia and Gomez has an unmistakable look: lengthy black braided pigtails, long-sleeve black mini dresses typically layered over a white pointed collar, and, of course, an expressionless face. It’s those unique details that have kept the character so relevant throughout the years (in 2025, Wednesday was the eighth most popular costume amongst children, according to the National Retail Federation).
“She’s a really important character. I think that’s why she’s lasted in the zeitgeist for so long. That character really resonates with people, and I think it’s important that the new generations have a Wednesday as well,” Ricci says, referencing Jenna Ortega’s portrayal in the eponymous Netflix series.
But it’s not just Wednesday that Ricci loves to see people embrace from her career: “When people dress up like Layla from Buffalo ‘66, I think that’s fun, but it’s also kind of a problematic movie, so I hesitated to say that one.” Ricci continues, “It’s such an obscure art movie that [when I see someone dressed as that character] it tells me what kind of person that person is. Like, they must love film or went to art school. Yeah, it’s a double-edged thing.”
Despite her love for seeing people dress up as beloved roles from her resume, Ricci admits she’s not usually one to partake in Halloween costume festivities — mostly because, well, she’s gotten to dress up as make-believe people pretty regularly from a young age. “I’ve never been a huge trick-or-treater person or dress-up person, and I wonder if it is because I’ve spent so much of my life in costume,” she explains. But just because Ricci hasn’t typically been one to indulge in thematic dressing for the celebration doesn’t mean she hasn’t enjoyed embracing other traditions — particularly, decorating her home with her 12-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
Courtesy of Reese’s
This year, the Yellowjackets actor partnered with Reese’s (yes, the candy brand) to find the “trick-or-treatiest” street in America, judging a slew of submissions from across the country alongside fellow famous faces of Halloween like Kathy Najimy. It’s a contest she was highly prepared to oversee, given her love for horror movies and spooky scenery.
“Me and my daughter cut up a bunch of sheets and hung ghosts from the roof,” she says. “That was super easy…but I love when people are really clever. I think it’s fun when people have a sense of humor with their decorations. I love creativity.” In the end, the Reese’s crew selected E. Dudley Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey, as the winning street, which Ricci advocated for in a video for the campaign. In the witchcraft-themed skit, Ricci expectedly foregoes any cat ears or vampire cloak, instead embracing the scary season in her casual outfit’s color palette.
“I live in a sort of uniform kind of vibe. I have like 20 of the same black tank tops; it’s just some random thing I order on Amazon. But I branched out, and I ordered some colors,” she says. “In the Reese’s video, I’m wearing the tank top I love but in an orange color. I was like, ‘This is perfect.’”
Ricci paired the ribbed shirt with a black matte leather jacket (seemingly from Saint Laurent) — another closet staple of the star’s. “I like a barrel-leg jean; I’m kind of obsessed with them,” she adds of her go-to pieces. “But I also really love the Wedgie jeans from Levi’s. I have sweatpants I love, and I have different cashmere cardigans and stuff, and then I wear the same checkerboard Vans every single day.”
It makes sense that with such laid-back style, Ricci is eager to get out of costume once she’s done filming on a long set day. “I notice that as soon as they call ‘Wrap,’ I want my wig off, I want my glasses off. I want the shit that isn’t mine off my body.” That’s not because she hates getting into character, though. Rather, it’s a testament to just how imperative costumes are for her world-building process.
“All of that stuff, really all of it — the hair and makeup — sort of informs the character,” Ricci says. “Think about it — you walk differently in different shoes. Depending on what kind of jeans you have on, you’re more relaxed. Everything influences the way your physicality is.”
But as much as Ricci loves to get out of costume, she admits there’s one character she’d love to jump back into. “I’m hoping to play [Wednesday Addams] again. I would love to do a sort of middle-aged Wednesday with children,” she says. “To see her as a 40-year-old woman now and how the years have affected her, and also to see the very relatable thing of somebody holding onto their identity through all the pressures and the wearing down of getting older. I think that would be fascinating.”
As for how Ricci would like to see the iconically morbid malcontent’s wardrobe evolve? “Some Comme des Garçons, a little Margiela … I think that’s probably where she would land.”
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