Johnny Depp explained ‘homosexuality’ to a nine-year-old Christina Ricci
Johnny Depp (L) and Christina Ricci. (Getty)
Christina Ricci has revealed it was none other than Johnny Depp who taught her about “homosexuality”, when she was nine.
Ricci was on Andy Cohen Live promoting her latest projects, Yellowjackets and Netflix’s upcoming new series Wednesdays, when she recalled the endearing story.
The queer enlightenment took place while on her first ever film set for the iconic 1990 comedy-drama Mermaids with Winona Ryder, Bob Hoskins and Cher.
“Johnny is actually the person who explained to me what homosexuality was when I was nine,” she began.
After baffled prompting from Andy Cohen, Christina Ricci then offered up the full story: “There was something going on on set and someone was not being nice to someone else.
“And they were like, ‘Oh, well he might be homophobic.’ And then I was like, ‘Well, I don’t understand what that is.’
“And I was in Winona’s trailer and she was like, ‘I don’t know how…’ so she put me on the phone with Johnny. And Johnny explained it to me.”
This all happened during Ryder and Depp’s four-year relationship and, according to Ricci, Depp explained being gay to her “in the simplest terms”.
She recalled him saying: “‘It’s when a man wants to have sex with a man. And when a woman wants to have sex with a woman,’ and I was like, ‘Ah OK.'”
Ricci recalled Depp explained it “very matter-of-factly”, but Cohen joked about Ryder having to call up Depp because “she couldn’t spit it out in some way”, adding: “I mean, you’ve got Cher in the next trailer.”
“I know, we should’ve run right over there,” Ricci shot back.
Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp eventually did cut out the middle man and worked together on 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 1999’s acclaimed Sleepy Hollow, directed by Tim Burton.
