Welcome to Life Lessons. This week, as we attempt to process the season finale of Showtimeâs Yellowjackets, we look back at one of our most iconic and highly-referenced covers featuring Christina Ricci. The Ricci-renaissance has been building in recent years, starting with a brief appearance in the latest Matrix film, and blossoming into the actorâs scene-stealing, critically acclaimed run as the eerie, malevolent Misty in the thriller series. Captured by Ellen von Unwerth for our December 1999 issue, the âlast cover girl of the centuryââthen just 19 years oldâtells the author Sylvia Patterson about her âweirdo-gothâ reputation, her already-illustrious career, and the pitfalls of gaining fame at an early age. So sit back, grab a penâyou just might learn a thing or two.  Â
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âI donât think I represent anything but me. Iâm certainly not trying to. Iâm not conscious of anything else but my day-to-day life. But Iâm willing to represent whatever you want me to.â
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âI donât like being told what to do, and since Iâm an actor thatâs a bit of a problem because you spend your entire day being told what to do.â
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âI donât like change. I donât like ânew.â I like everything to be the same so that I can concentrate. You can concentrate on having a life when everything around you is familiar.â
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âI feel some people act like making movies is doing Godâs work, when really itâs nothing. Weâre all whoring ourselves out for money. Weâre giving people pleasure and weâre getting paid to do it.â
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âUsually the ones who say they donât give a fuck are the ones who care the most.â
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âIâm very American. All the bad stuff and good stuff in one. Iâm obsessed with television, obsessed with celebrities. I hold on to things that people say and I remember things that Iâm told. A lot of my opinions have been formed by my parents, and I donât reject themâI accept them.â
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âIâm just normal. And for some reason, that is wildly abnormal. But I know that what I am is actually more acceptable than the stereotype. If I was something horribly dislikable, then I would probably change.â
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âIâm not particularly vulnerable. You canât walk around with your insides hanging out all the time. You can control the way you behave and the way you react to other people.â