Christina Ricci's weight worries

Christina Ricci's weight worries

Christina Ricci is paranoid she is too fat to be a Hollywood actress.

The 'Speed Racer' star - who has previously been treated for anorexia - thinks she would be dismissed as overweight if she was starting out in the film industry today.

Ricci - who shot to fame after appearing in the film 'Mermaids' aged just nine - said: "Seriously, if I was just starting out in this business, I'd probably have to lose 20lbs.

"As a teenager, my favourite rejection was, 'She looks too healthy', which of course translates as, 'She needs to lose weight.' But I never had any illusions. I knew I would never be cast as the pretty girl. I went through an awkward adolescence and had braces."

The 28-year-old actress believes she now gets better roles because she is not as conventionally beautiful as some of her rivals.

She added to Britain's Independent newspaper: "This business is all about appearances, which leaves a lot of the more interesting roles to actresses like me."