ET spoke to Christina Ricci over the weekend during promotion for her new film, Penelope, in an interview to air on Tuesday, December 18th. Ricci opened up about her battle with anorexia, “I was a teenager going through adolescence and at one point I had a little anorexia phase and then I kind of ballooned. I feel my body now is the adult Christina and it’s what I should have come to a long time ago if I hadn’t been screwing around with my body so much.”

Ricci shares the advice she gives to young girls struggling with their body image, “It’s all about perception. The more weight you give your criticisms, the more it’s going to affect you. Vanity is unnecessary. I’m the most vain person on Earth but I have found a way to let that go so I can just have fun. You really have to make a decision in life that you’re not going to be crippled by your insecurities.”

Looking back on her career, Ricci says she spent too much time worrying about other people’s perception, “I was taken to these beautiful places but I was so insecure that I didn’t really have any fun. I was too busy thinking about my skin or my weight or the clothes I was wearing instead of just enjoying it and saying, ‘I can’t believe I get to be here. This is awesome and I’m going to experience it.’”

ET