Director Lashes Out at Ricci

October 30, 2000 -- Two years ago, brash actor-model-director Vincent Gallo told reporters he immediately wanted to cast then-up-and-coming actress Christina Ricci after seeing her in The Addams Family and Mermaids. Gallo, nearly 20 years older than the Goth hottie, decided he must have her play the lead in his directorial debut, Buffalo 66.

The angular-faced, unshaven Gallo even claimed he'd had a crush on Ricci his whole life. These days, Gallo is singing quite a different tune about his former muse; the indie filmmaker fired some quite nasty accusations about Ricci last week, when he ran into a New York Post Page Six columnist at a popular Big Apple watering hole.

When the writer mentioned Ricci to the director, he snapped, "It was OK when she wasn't drunk on the set. I think she's an alcoholic — it was either that, or she was on cough syrup the whole time."

Gallo, who also snidely claimed that Ricci lost weight on the set because he limited her diet, seemed to spit fire. "I don't like her," he continued. "She's an ungrateful c--t. But it was OK. She's basically a puppet. I told her what to do, and she did it."

Who's the ungrateful one? Ricci likely got chump change for starring in the low-budget Buffalo 66, and in return, Gallo's film made quite a splash at Sundance that year — no doubt boosted by Ricci's voluptuous yet naive turn.

But Gallo has faded from the hipster film scene since then, while Ricci has pulled down one buzz-worthy project after another, including Sleepy Hollow, Prozac Nation, and The Man Who Cried. Could Gallo be jealous?

Ricci's rep was taken aback by Gallo's cruelty. "I've never heard Christina say anything but nice things about Vincent, so I'm not sure why he's saying these things," she said. "Maybe he's trying to get into the papers."

Gallo claims he's currently working on a Charlie Manson musical, while Ricci was on the set of her latest project, Pumpkin.