When most people hear the name of Christina Ricci, often the first thought that comes to mind is one of her earliest roles - that of Wednesday in the 90’s comedy hit The Addam’s Family.

However, her adult career has, in ways, been even more memorable. Controversial roles in films such as Buffalo 66, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Monster and recently Black Snake Moan have earned her the reputation as a darling of Independent film.

More recently, she has made the move back to the mainstream, appearing earlier this year in comedy Penelope, and now as Trixie in the Wachowski Brothers’ new action film Speed Racer.

EW: What drew you to the project?

Well I was very excited about working with the Wachowskis. People have been talking about Speed Racer for years, and I think as recently as three months before my audition someone said to me “Oh, they’re gonna make Speed Racer, you’d be a great Trixie”. I’ve heard this from different people about 6 or 7 times in my life, so when I got the audition, and they said “we’re making Speed Racer with the Wachowski Brothers and we want you to audition for Trixie”, I thought “oh, I’m supposed to be in this movie!” So that’s kind of what drew me to it.

EW: Speed Racer has a huge worldwide fan base, were you worried you wouldn’t live up to the expectations of the fans?

Not really. Judgement is judgement, and whether there’s 100 people judging you or 4 people judging you, I think if you’re a sensitive person it all feels the same, you know what I mean? You can’t live you’re life worrying about every single thing. As far as acting goes, I could never make a decision if I had to weigh the pros and cons of everything, I could never think like that.

EW: So you just go with your gut when deciding on roles?

I do kinda, yeah (laughs).

EW: Did you enjoy the fight scenes you did in the movie?

I did, yeah, very much. I loved working with the stunt guys. They gave me all these challenges, and I’ve met most of them. They actually owe me a new challenge, the last thing they challenged me to do was a one-armed pull up, which I now can do, and they now need to give me something new.

EW: Could you hold your own now in a street fight?

They (the stunt trainers) told me not to. They were like ‘don’t try to fight them!’ And that I should either run screaming, or aim for the eyes, the balls, or the Adam’s apple!

Speed Racer is released 9th May. Read the review.