Christina Ricci had been told for years she'd be the perfect actress to play Speed Racer's loyal girlfriend Trixie if a movie version of the classic 1960s cartoon was ever made. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure she'd blown it after auditioning for "Speed Racer" directors Andy and Larry Wachowski.

"I thought I gave a horrible audition, but at one point I caught Andy's eye and Andy looked at my sneakers and I looked at his and looked back up at him and sort of smiled," Ricci says. "I was like, 'Maybe the Chuck Taylors will work.'"

And since she obviously landed the gig, it appears having the same fashion sense as your potential employer can do wonders in Hollywood these days. Where Ricci and the Wachowskis' style differed was on Trixie's trademark bob haircut. Ricci wanted to wear a wig, but the brothers behind "The Matrix" insisted she cut her locks before filming began.

"When you have long hair and then, all of a sudden, you get a really drastic haircut -- you know, us ladies, we cry," Ricci jokes. "But, other than that, she was a great character to play. She was amazing and fun and they dressed me up like a doll every day, but then I got to do all this action stuff and had a really good time."

In the original TV series, Trixie wasn't much more than, um, a loyal girlfriend, but, to Ricci, the 2008 version is the "ultimate feminist character."

The "Sleepy Hollow" star says, "She's as girlie as she wants to be, but then she does everything the boys do and there's no commentary on, 'Oooo, it's a girl flying a helicopter.' And the [Wachowskis] are very much responsible for that kind of thing because they have a very strong sense of equality and an interest in leaving the world a better place than they found it."

(Or perhaps Trixie's impressive knowledge of kung fu has something to do with it.)

With so much of the hyperstylized world of "Speed Racer" created within a computer, you'd think spending months in front of a green screen would be a major drag. While Ricci and her co-stars did find it difficult at first (John Goodman referred to it as really low-budget theater), Ricci claims there were some added benefits.

She recalls, "You walk into this big green room and you look at everyone else dressed in various hilarious costumes and you just say, 'Yeah, OK. What are we doing today?' Then, they like, 'It's snowing.' We're laughing and it's ridiculous but we're committing to it. We don't know what's around us, but we're gonna do what they tell us to. It creates a bond that is really wonderful."

And like co-stars Matthew Fox (the mysterious Racer X) and Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer himself), Ricci had her own issues with the gimbal contraption that was used to depict them driving their various racing vehicles.

"You get banged around in the gimbal thing so much and you end up with bruises," Ricci admits. "At one point, I had to get out and throw up and then get back in because it's a lot of shaking and craziness, but it was just really fun."

"Speed Racer" opens nationwide May 9.

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