In an interview , the Yellowjackets star, 42, said her 8-year-old son Freddie “won’t be able to avoid” having a feminist perspective as a result of his mom and stepdad.
The actress, who is currently playing strong female characters on two separate series — Misty Quigley on Yellowjackets and Marilyn Thornhill on Wednesday — said her son, whom she shares with ex James Heerdegen, also has an acute awareness about how women are perceived.
“He’s asking questions like, ‘Mom, is that racist?’ Or, ‘Mom, is that okay for women?’ ” Ricci told The Guardian. “He’s got this whole thing about not calling objects – like boats – she. He’ll correct me: ‘Women are not objects.’ ”
Freddie, for his part, has actually been paying attention for quite a while. In an interview in 2018, Ricci revealed that he was asking her questions about her job even at age 3½.
“He’s come home from preschool and been out in the world and said to me, ‘Mama, are you a movie actress?’ ” she recalled. “And I didn’t say that to him. People mention it to him, clearly. I have to then explain to him what it is, and we’ve shown him movies.”
Some of the movies Freddie screened included the earliest forays into acting for Ricci, who also shares 1-year-old daughter Cleo with husband Hampton.
Ricci explained that she showed her son her 1995 movie Casper, “and then we realized he hadn’t developed that ability to discern reality from fiction.”
She continued, “He started asking me about my childhood with my best friend, the ghost,” she said, laughing, about the family film.
