Christina Ricci says Johnny Depp explained to her what being gay is when she was 9

The teachable moment came on the set of the 1990 film Mermaids.

Christina Ricci learned about homosexuality from none other than Captain Jack Sparrow.

Appearing on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live to talk about the current season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets as well as Netflix’s upcoming Wednesday series, Ricci recalled learning about the concept of homosexuality for the first time, on her very first film set, from Johnny Depp.

“Johnny is actually the person who explained to me what homosexuality was when I was 9,” she said, prompting Cohen to ask for the full backstory.

“There was something going on on set and someone was not being nice to someone else,” she explained. “And they were like, ‘Oh, well he might be homophobic.’ And then I was like, ‘Well, I don’t understand what that is.’ And, and I was in Winona’s [Ryder] trailer and she was like, ‘I don’t know how…’ so she put me on the phone with Johnny. And Johnny explained it to me.”

Ricci and Ryder were working together on the 1990 film Mermaids, starring Cher, and Ryder was famously dating Depp at the time. The future Addams Family star remembered Depp explaining things to her “very matter-of-factly.” She told Cohen, “Like the simplest terms… yeah. He was like, ‘It’s when a man wants to have sex with a man. And when a woman wants to have sex with a woman,’ and I was like, ‘Ah okay.'”

“I love it that Winona Ryder had to put you on the phone with Johnny Depp to get that story that she couldn’t spit it out in some way, or, I mean, you’ve got Cher in the next trailer,” Cohen joked.

“I know, we should’ve run right over there,” Ricci agreed.

Riccia and Depp would go on to star together in films like 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 1999’s Sleepy Hollow.