(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Christina Ricci was surprised by the marketing tie-ins for Speed Racer. “I’ve seen my Barbie doll,” Ricci said at the Gotham party in her honor on May 3. There’s a Barbie of her character, Trixie, and a Speed Ken. “She’s wearing my favorite Trixie outfit, but she looks more like Katie Holmes than me.” Working on Speed Racer, the actress got used to confusion: Everything was shot on a soundstage, in front of a green screen. “They’d show you a mock-up of what the background was going to be and then say, ‘Here’s your mark,’” she recalled. “I couldn’t really understand the whole thing, so I was like, I’m just going to do what I’m told, and it’ll work out fine.” She’s also okay with not having her likeness in thousands of fans’ bedrooms. “She looks like Katie,” Ricci said, “which is actually fine.”

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Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Table of Contents: May 19, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!