Christina Ricci recently shared that when she was nine years old on the set of Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder, Johnny Depp taught her “what homosexuality was.”
In an interview with Andy Cohen, Ricci said, “There was something going on on set and someone was not being nice to someone else. And they were like, 'Oh, well, he might be homophobic.' “
Ricci explained that she was confused about what that meant. “And then I was like, 'Well, I don't understand what that is,' ” she said.
The Yellowjackets actress continued, “And I was in Winona's trailer and she was like, 'I don't know how to explain.' So she put me on the phone with Johnny, and Johnny explained it to me.” Ryder and Depp were a couple at the time.
Depp made it simple for Ricci. “He was like, 'It's when a man wants to have sex with a man and when a woman wants to have sex with a woman.' And I was like, 'Ah, okay,' ” she said.
Cohen responded with a joke about Cher, who has been a gay icon for decades. “I love it that Winona Ryder had to put you on the phone with Johnny Depp to get that story that she couldn't spit it out in some way, or, I mean, you've got Cher in the next trailer,” he said.
“I know, we should've run right over there,” Ricci said.