Christina Ricci Reveals Son’s Confusion Over Her Fame: ‘Why Are People Always Hugging You?’

Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci has revealed that her 10-year-old son Freddie used to be very confused about her fame.

“When [he] was young, he would say to me, ‘Why are people always hugging you?’” Ricci, 44, recalled on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, February 5.

Ricci chatted with host Jimmy Fallon about how Freddie and his 3-year-old sister Cleopatra deal with fans approaching her in public. She explained that since she starred in classic films that many fans grew up with – like The Addams Family and Casper – people are often affectionate with her in public.

“I had to explain to [Freddie] that I was in these movies and people feel really sentimental about it,” the actress said. “Then, I did show him Casper way too young, which was a mistake.”

Ricci assured Fallon that Casper is “totally safe for children” to watch, though Freddie had some understandable bewilderment in seeing his mom on an adventure with a ghost.

“I was driving him to preschool one day and he was like, ‘Oh, mom, I told my teachers about your childhood… that you lived in your house with your dad and all those ghosts,’” she remembered as Fallon’s studio audience laughed. “Developmentally, it was too soon! I’ve learned now, we’re going to wait a little bit for Cleo.”

Earlier in the interview, Ricci had compared Cleopatra to “a feral creature” in jest and then shared that her daughter doesn’t always address her as “mom.”

“She calls me ‘Christina,’” the star said. “It’s a mix of ‘mommy’ and ‘Christina.’ She’ll say, ‘Ice and water, Christina, please!’ When I get her some water, she’s like, ‘Thank you, Christina!’”

Ricci went on: “You can’t just kiss [Cleo] and squeeze her. I have a lot of respect for her now. I mean, I always did. They’re children, you respect them. But I’ve developed quite a lot of respect for her because you can’t just kiss her, you have to ask her [first]… She’ll be like, ‘No.’”

The Wednesday star recalled one less funny situation where she heard Cleo screaming “Christina!” over her baby monitor in the middle of the night.

“I felt like I was being screamed at [like] I was in Mommie Dearest all of the sudden,” Ricci joked. “I like ran [to her and] fell over, but also was laughing hysterically.”

Ricci’s son Freddie was born during her marriage to James Heerdegen, before she filed for divorce in July 2020. In April 2021, Ricci was granted sole legal custody of Freddie, with Heerdegen being allowed visitation rights.

The Addams Family Values actress has since moved on with second husband Mark Hampton, whom she married in October 2021. The couple welcomed daughter Cleopatra in December 2021.

On The Ellen DeGeneres Show in January 2022, Ricci said that the couple initially planned to name their daughter Cleo, but Hampton made a last minute switch while filling out her birth certificate.

“We were gonna call her Cleo and then right before they were preparing me for the C-section, they started talking about how we had to fill out birth certificate stuff, [and] my husband was like, ‘We’ve got to give her a full name, right? And then the nickname is Cleo,’” Ricci told host Ellen DeGeneres. “I was sort of like, ‘Whatever, we can talk about this later.’ Then he got so excited that he put it on Instagram.”

The star continued: “Well, I guess her name is Cleopatra. I just thought it would be Cleo … but he figured it out while I was in recovery. Cleopatra’s good. I mean, it’s a queen’s name.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights at 11.35p.m. ET on NBC.