Just a minute with Christina Ricci on "Speed Racer"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Christina Ricci, who first hit the big screen opposite Cher in "Mermaids" at age 10, has been a Hollywood fixture for nearly two decades.

In her latest project, "Speed Racer," Ricci stars as Trixie, the title character's precocious girlfriend.

The action-packed family film about race car drivers is Ricci's biggest movie in years. For most of her adult career the actress has mainly acted in low-budget independent

films.

Over pasta and iced tea at a Los Angeles restaurant, Ricci, 28, talked to Reuters about "Speed Racer," getting older, and what she would do if she wasn't acting.

Q: You've been acting since you were 10. Did you ever think about doing anything else?

A: "Sometimes you are like -- worst case scenario: what other skills do I have? And I always think I'm good at listening to people. I could be a therapist ... I could be a life coach. I'm good at telling people what to do. I really enjoy that immensely."

Q: Are you like that in your own life, too?

A: "I like fixing my own clothes and holes and buttons. (In) most of my house, any of the projects that were done in there were done when I had nothing to do. I have to do two things at once. I can't just watch television or watch a movie. I also have to be doing a project at the same time."

Q: Does that make you want to work a lot too?

A: "I would definitely love to go from one movie to the next, but I haven't necessarily been in a position where I could do that and still be discerning. So, I think all my projects and fix-it things have been so I can be patient and wait for something I am really interested or believe in."

Q: In "Speed Racer," you play a young character, and yet you are nearly 30. Do people think of you as a perpetual teen?

A: "This kind of movie is kind of perfect for me because people are like 'It doesn't matter how old she is.' A lot of people have trouble getting their head around, 'Well she doesn't look old enough to be a professional, but we know that she is almost 30.' So it's difficult sometimes in casting.

"I do totally agree with what they are talking about. There is no part of me that is like 'I would be completely believable as an FBI agent."'

Q: Do you feel like you are getting older?

A: "I never did before, and then I saw this picture and I was like 'Oh my God, I am not impervious to age.' I think I always believed it wouldn't happen. So yeah I do feel like I'm getting older, but in the weirdest way because I don't feel older. I still dress the same, so now I'm worried. Do I have to start dressing older? Because I don't want to be one of those freaky people that looks old but dresses like they are a teenager."

Q: You've appeared on "Grey's Anatomy" and a few other TV shows. Do you like doing TV?

A: "Television is fun because you move so fast and the hours are really long and intense. It's sort of like, get in there and do your job."

Reuters/Nielsen