Home Town: Santa Monica, CA Status: Livin' Life Biography: In 2006 Ricci stated that she feels that at 5ft 1in she is "too short" to ever be an A-list actress, saying she tends "to look really small on camera". She has also said that she believes that she does not have much control over her career, specifying that she still has to audition for film parts. Her newest film, Black Snake Moan, co-stars Samuel L. Jackson and Justin Timberlake and was released in the US on March 2, 2007, early reviews for the film have been mixed, with the review tallying website rottentomatoes.com reporting that 84 out of the 128 reviews they have tallied thus far have been positive, for an overall score of 66% (a film that scores 60% or higher is certified "fresh"). On the television program Ebert & Roeper, filmmaker Kevin Smith, filling in for Roger Ebert, described the film as the best of the year thus far. Smith praised Ricci and Jackson, saying this was Ricci's best performance and Jackson's best performance since Pulp Fiction (1994). Richard Roeper also gave the film a "thumb up" rating. The film earned $4 million, putting it in eighth place for the highest earnings in its opening weekend. For her role in Black Snake Moan, Ricci was required to lose several pounds and wore an actual forty-pound (18 kg) chain during filming,. Apart from having to lose weight, Ricci ate only food items without any nutritional value to achieve her unhealthy appearance.Ricci has upcoming roles in Penelope, alongside Reese Witherspoon, a modern day fairytale, and in 2008, she will play the female lead in The Wachowski Brothers' feature film adaptation of Speed Racer.
In February, along with Samuel L. Jackson, she presented a Grammy Award at the 2007 Grammys.
