Christina Ricci is remembering a challenging time in her life.
The Addams Family alum spoke about her upbringing with fellow former child actress Demi Lovato for the Hulu documentary Child Star, released Sept. 17.
"I had a very chaotic home," Ricci said. "My father was a failed cult leader, and so he had all that same sort of, like, really crazy narcissism that goes along with someone wanting to run a cult. And he was very physically violent. There was never any peace in my house."
The 44-year-old confirmed she found peace on film and TV sets.
"I knew nothing totally insane was about to happen," she explained to Lovato. "Nobody was gonna get really mad and pretend they were gonna drive the car into a wall. There was this refuge of emotional safety."
The Yellowjackets actress grew up in New Jersey as the youngest of three siblings. Her parents divorced when she was a 13 and had just finished filming Addams Family Values and she and her father became estranged years later, The Guardian reported in 2000.
"I know it sounds cold, but it was one of the first things I ever did in my life—to take care of myself," Ricci told the newspaper. "Decide that only people who deserve it can be in my life."
Her dad worked as a therapist who specialized in "primal-scream therapy." He conducted sessions in the basement of their family home, the newspaper said.
During family dinners, which the actress said were mandatory, her father would share his life's philosophy. She said he was "a very paranoid man" who taught his kids there is no such thing as selflessness, no one ever really likes you and that people are only out for themselves, per the paper.
"I think he thought that because he was like that, so was everybody else. He was passing on his little secret to his children," Ricci told The Guardian. "I don't think it affected me because I decided it wasn't true. No way. Life couldn't be that way."