Opinion is the wilderness between knowledge and ignorance. So says Christina Ricci’s Yellowjackets alter ego, Misty Quigley, and we’ll be honest, we’re not sure what it means. Misty, like most of the other characters on the show, is a mystery, and according to the woman who plays her, things are going to get even weirder on the new season of the Showtime hit.
“There’s a couple of new cast members… and they’re amazing,” Ricci told Newsweek. Lauren Ambrose was announced in August as a new member of the cast, which also includes Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell and Samantha Hanratty, who plays teenage Misty. “And the scripts are just so good. Each one that we’ve seen is better than the last. So we’re really excited.”
Ricci’s portrayal of adult Misty—a highly manipulative, potentially sociopathic tag-along—earned the star one of Yellowjackets‘ seven Emmy nominations in July. As Season 2 has begun filming in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show is set to return sometime at the start of the new year, according to Esquire.
“It feels like to me Season 2 is going to be better than Season 1,” Ricci continued. “There’s some real surprising, crazy stuff that happens very early on.” For fans of Season 1—in which some very surprising, crazy stuff happened—that’s really saying something.”
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For Ricci, 42, Misty is just the latest entry on a résumé that began with her role, when she was 9, in 1990’s Mermaids. Working alongside Cher, Ricci told Newsweek, had a lasting impact on the actress.
“[Cher] always conducted herself with such grace, but still such strength and fairness,” Ricci said. “This impression she gave [was] like, nobody was going to f**k with her. But she didn’t have to be mean or anything to achieve that. And that was such a great example for me to have as a young woman.”
Mermaids may have given Ricci her start, but she quickly attained superstardom thanks to her take on the death-obsessed Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family.
Netflix will soon release an Addams Family spin-off series based on the character Ricci made famous. Titled Wednesday, the show will star actress Jenna Ortega as the lead, with Ricci appearing in a yet-to-be-disclosed role.
Ricci described returning to the Addams Family universe as “super fun,” and that she’s excited by Ortega’s fresh approach to the character. She’s also flattered that series producer and director Tim Burton—the gothic fantasy mastermind known for films like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice—asked her to join.
“I love him so much. It’s so great to be able to work with him,” she said of Burton, with whom she previously collaborated on 1999’s Sleepy Hollow. “I have a lot of sentimental feelings around the Addams Family world and the character of Wednesday. So to be asked to be a part of the new iteration of this character was really meaningful to me and felt really nice.”
Ricci has other irons in the fire, too. She recently announced a partnership with pet food brand Stella & Chewy’s for its “All You Need Is Raw” campaign.
On top of parenting two children, Ricci is also dog mom of three. Her oldest furry friend is named Karen, a 13-year-old chihuahua-dachshund mix. Ricci said she loves what Stella & Chewy’s food is doing for her dogs, especially as she tries to preempt any pain that Karen may be experiencing as she ages.
When she’s not training her youngest pup or caring for her kids, Ricci remains focused on honing her craft. And while she didn’t take home an Emmy for Misty this awards season, there’s always next year.
“I can’t really talk about any of it,” Ricci said of her character’s trajectory this season. “I guess the only thing that I can say is… in this season, we get to see a little bit more of Misty’s internal life, which we didn’t see a lot of last year.”
