What Cher Is Really Like, According To Former Costar Christina Ricci

Cher is not only a wonderful singer and actor but a wonderful person, according to fellow Hollywood superstar Christina Ricci. "Honestly, every good thing you believe about Cher is true," Ricci told Drew Barrymore on a November 2024 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show." Ricci made her feature film debut as a 9-year-old in 1990's "Mermaids" alongside Cher, and she has had nothing but glowing things to say about Cher since.

Ricci is just four years younger than Cher's son, Elijah Blue Allman, so the songstress was understandably protective of her on set. "Cher took me under her wing," Ricci said in the 2024 documentary "Child Star" (via Entertainment Weekly). "She recognized that sometimes you could be on a set, and you don't know exactly what is going on behind the scenes — power struggles, or different issues. And if you don't know any better, and have no experience, you can think it was your fault," explained Ricci. But Cher was quick to make sure the young actor never felt like she was the root of any problems on set: "She never wanted me to feel insecure."

The "Yellowjackets" star heaps praise upon Cher any chance she gets, as Cher helped the former child star tremendously on set. "She saw me as a human being and was like, 'oh, you must be really confused about what's going on, let me explain this to you.' She literally would explain everything to me, and if it was something she couldn't explain in front of people she'd take me in her trailer," Ricci told Marc Maron on an August 2022 episode of his "WTF" podcast.

In "Child Star," Christina Ricci called Cher a mentor during their time on "Mermaids. "I was really lucky, in that when I first started, I worked with a lot of women that were very strong. They were great talents, but they were also very strong and had boundaries and had rules about how they were treated. And that's one thing that I definitely got from her" (via Entertainment Weekly). Ricci also co-starred alongside a 19-year-old Winona Ryder in "Mermaids," in addition to powerful women like Demi Moore in "Now and Then" and Anjelica Huston from "The Addams Family" cast.

Ricci would go to Cher for guidance on how to do certain things on screen, like forcing herself to cry. "I was like, 'How do you make yourself cry?' And she explained her process to me," Ricci told Barrymore. "She took the time to take her headphones off and just be like, 'Well, here's what I do.' She was really amazing."

The two also worked together shooting the music video for "The Shoop Shoop Song," one of Cher's hit tracks. "We were up really late, and then Cher took me to her house in Malibu to sleep over afterwards, and we had, like, a pajama party. It was just great," Ricci told AV Club in 2018. Although Cher was a large part of so many of Ricci's wonderful childhood memories in the '90s, they haven't connected in some time. "We were in touch, but we have since lost touch, which I regret very much, because she's an incredible person," Ricci said. Nevertheless, Ricci has undergone a stunning transformation since her child star days, and she has Cher to thank for showing her the ropes.