Long after finding fame at age 11 as Wednesday Addams in the film version of “The Addams Family,” Christina Ricci has found her voice in public policy. After playing a victim of sexual abuse in “Black Snake Moan,” Ricci, 29, was asked to become the spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Last week she zigzagged around Capitol Hill to ask lawmakers for their support for legislation relating to rape and sexual abuse.

How did you first hear about RAINN?
When I was 15, I was reading about Tori Amos in Rolling Stone magazine, and she talked about how she, along with Scott [Berkowitz, RAINN’s president], had co-founded RAINN. And after that, they’ll ask us as actresses, “If you come to this fashion show, we’ll donate $10,000 to your favorite charity.” And I always picked RAINN. And I always had an interest in rape crisis intervention and what happens to women when rape is untreated, and rape-trauma syndrome. And then I did a movie that was all about rape trauma syndrome, and after that movie, RAINN invited me to become even more active and to become their spokesperson.

Have you ever been to Capitol Hill before?
I’ve been to the Hill once before, so this is my second time. It’s intimidating as all hell, every time I come, but then it always turns out to be a great thing. I feel so fortunate to be … one of the few Americans that actually can go and meet with people and say, “This is what I care about — please help us.”

Are you nervous about meeting members of Congress?
It’s just intimidating. I mean, I barely graduated high school, and I’m an actress, so we’re not by nature that intelligent. But when there are things that really matter to you, it’s great to know that you can actually take part in making a difference. I can’t volunteer and be an advocate because I’m not anonymous, so this is how I can help in this situation.

Who would you most like to meet while you’re in Washington?
Oh, my God, if I met Biden, I would lose my mind. He wrote the Violence Against Women Act, and I love him. I think he’s great. And of course, no doubt, I want to meet Obama. But that’s not really going to happen.

Who are some of your political heroes?
I actually love James Carville, but I know he might not be considered by some to be a political hero. His work over the years, I really love and respect him. And I love [Rep.] Ted Poe (R-Texas) for all of the work he’s done for our cause and for children’s rights and no parole for sex offenders. I just love him. And Biden; Biden’s a huge hero of mine. I was so excited when he got picked [as vice president]. I was just overjoyed.

Do you affiliate yourself with a political party?
For now, while I’m doing this kind of work, I prefer to publicly be bipartisan, just because I feel like this is a bipartisan issue. And I don’t feel like the figurehead of it should be at all partisan.

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She played the eccentric Wednesday Addams in the film version of “The Addams Family,” so it was fitting that G2 caught up with actress Christina Ricci on Wednesday evening while she was in town as a spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), which says it is the nation’s largest anti-sexual-assault organization.

The tiny 29-year-old, who has been the public face for RAINN since 2007, was dressed in a short black minidress and stiletto heels, her pin-straight raven mane slung over her shoulders.

Not exactly the look of a conventional lobbyist, but Miss Ricci said she made the rounds on Capitol Hill to advocate for more funding for rape hot-line centers, where Miss Ricci has volunteered her time and encourages others to do the same.

“It only takes a few hours a month, and you can [take calls from victims] from your couch,” she said.

The “Monster” actress also said, “I am not an active Democrat. I met with Republicans and Democrats. [Supporting rape victims] is a bipartisan issue.”

When G2 showed Miss Ricci The Washington Times’ front-page story on the rape epidemic in the Congo, Miss Ricci expressed her outrage.

“Rape as a means of warfare has been going on for centuries, and I don’t know what we can do to stop it,” she said.

As for sexual assaults in the United States, she says part of her agenda is to institute stricter sentences for sex offenders. When asked what she had in mind, she said, “I don’t know, but people need to understand that rapists are career rapists.”

Among her upcoming professional projects is the film “After.Life” with Liam Neeson, whose wife, actress Natasha Richardson, died in March after a skiing accident.

Miss Ricci, who called Mr. Neeson “a lovely man,” said she plays a woman caught between life and death after a car accident. Mr. Neeson portrays a funeral director in the horror flick, which was shot before Miss Richardson’s sudden death. Miss Ricci said Mr. Neeson “won’t be doing press” when the movie makes its debut.

From the Washington Times

Actress Christina Ricci spoke with us today on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” about her work as national spokesman for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

She’s urging members of Congress to support increased funding for the national sexual assault hotline, which provides counseling to victims of rape and sexual abuse through a network of local affiliates. Many of those state and local partners have seen their funding cut in recent months.

Such services are particularly important to those who don’t have health insurance, Ricci said.

“That’s the thing: This has a lot to do with health care because, you know, people without health care can go to . . . these publicly funded services, these social services, and get the help that they need, the medical help that they need,” she said.

“And if you cut all the funding to them you’re adding just even more stress to the whole health care [system]. I mean, this is really a health care issue. . . . People who are raped tend to are twice as likely to suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, suicide.”

Ricci said she got more involved in the cause as an offshoot of her work on the 2006 film “Black Snake Moan,” where she plays the victim of severe sexual and physical abuse.

“I actually did know quite a bit about it, so when I read that screen play I recognized what the character was suffering from,” she said. “And rape trauma syndrome to so many people is so confusing because they don’t really understand the psychology that goes behind what happens to somebody once they’ve been raped and left to deal with this violent crime the rest of their life, without treatment.”

Click HERE to see the video interview with Christina Ricci.

From ABC News

Actress Christina Ricci met with lawmakers today on behalf of RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) to stress the importance of such sexual assault services as the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

We had a chance to sit down with Ricci during her visit and talked about not only her work with RAINN (she’s a spokeswoman for them), but also her favorite politician and what it’s like to sit down and talk shop with lawmakers.

From Politico

“Speed Racer” stars Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci are better known for smaller independent movies than summer blockbusters.

Yet they could not pass up the chance to work with Larry and Andy Wachowski on the brothers’ first writing-directing effort after “The Matrix” trilogy.

After the lesbian thriller “Bound” and their science-fiction franchise, all dark R-rated affairs, the Wachowskis have gone the family route with the PG-rated “Speed Racer,” a live-action and computer-animated update of the TV cartoon series.

Hirsch, who starred last year in Sean Penn’s acclaimed drama “Into the Wild,” plays Speed, the young phenomenon of the Racer family, who gets behind the wheel to take on a corrupt corporate honcho ruining auto racing.

Ricci, most recently seen as a pig-faced girl in the fairy-tale romance “Penelope,” plays Speed’s girlfriend Trixie, who flies the skies in her helicopter to scout out the race course.

With the Wachowskis reteaming with “Matrix” producer Joel Silver, “Speed Racer” also stars John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and a pet chimpanzee that’s constantly getting into trouble.

Hirsch, 23, and Ricci, 28, chatted with The Associated Press at March’s ShoWest theater-owners convention, where distributor Warner Bros. showed off footage of “Speed Racer.” The movie opens Friday.

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AP: Given the more serious films the two of you often do, a big summer action movie doesn’t seem like an obvious choice.

Ricci: But this is the coolest, because it’s the Wachowski brothers, and also, it’s not your average cheesy big blockbuster. It’s really awesome.

Hirsch: There’s something just so wonderfully rebellious about the idea of being like some serious actor and having to just do those kind of movies, where I wanted to spit on the idea and just do something so wrong. But it’s so right.

Ricci: And so much about choices for me is about what’s going to be fun. This sounded like so much fun. You get to go do an action-y film and a really stylized character. To me, that’s fun.

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From writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, the creators of the groundbreaking The Matrix trilogy, and producer Joel Silver, comes the live-action, high-octane family adventure Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci.

Trixie flies a helicopter in the movie. Is that her racecar?

They wrote this character and she made sense to me. This is a car culture, and you’ve got to think that Speed raced a lot of rallies in his young life and she’s part of the team. That’s her contribution.

Did you know before you got the role of Trixie that you’d be doing martial arts in the movie?

A lot of the script was action sequences – just pages and pages describing the races and action sequences. I didn’t read those pages because it was a little dense and I had to audition in twenty-four hours. So, when I got to the set and the stunt coordinator came to see me, he said, ‘So, you’re going to be doing some kung fu.’ I was like, ‘What? Really? I fight in this?’ And he assured me that I fight in this. I had a couple of training sessions. It was really fun and the stunt guys were awesome and really fun to deal with and work with. I had a really good time. I love that kind of thing, so it was great. I tend to be very competitive and athletic, so it was awesome.

With so much of the film being shot in front of a green screen, did the Wachowskis give you detailed information about what each scene would look like?

No. They explained as much as they could and you were certainly able to go and find out as much as you wanted to, or you could know as little as you wanted to. I mean, there’s no way of really knowing exactly what it’s going to be like because it’s very much in their hands. With Larry and Andy, it’s their personality, it’s their ideas and vision that stamped all over the movie. But the thing is, you get such a great feeling out of the fact that they know exactly what they’re going to be doing. They have this world worked out completely.

You can ask any question about minutia in the world and they would know the answer. So, when people are like that, it tends to inspire a lot of confidence and a lot of trust. Also, there’s this idea that if I argue with them, I have no ground to stand on because I have no idea what’s in their head. So, it’s not like you can say, ‘Look, I don’t think this would go with what’s happening in the background,’ because you don’t know what is happening in the background. So, you really are in a place where you just do what they tell you. If you don’t, it probably will not fit with the rest of the film.

Were you nervous meeting the Wachowskis for the first time?

I was very nervous. I didn’t talk much at my audition. Then they said they were worried about hiring me because I didn’t talk much. I was like, ‘I was nervous, people. Come on.’ It was a combination of the fact that I really would have liked to do the job plus being a huge fan of theirs. I loved The Matrix.

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Christina Ricci describes her Speed Racer character Trixie, and she says doing something challenging like in the movie is not just for any actor. You can view the video at AskMen.com.