What the Hell Happened to Winona Ryder?

She was arguably the actress of my generation.  Or at least she was during my late teens and early 20’s.  And then, she disappeared from the big screen in the midst of a bizarre shoplifting scandal.

What the hell happened?

ryder - lucas
Winona Ryder – Lucas – 1986

Winona Ryder got her start in the 1986 teen cult classic, LucasLucas was one of the better coming-of-age dramas from this time.  Many members of its cast of unknowns would go on to be stars.

Lucas was of course played by the late Corey Haim and the film co-starred the scandal-prone warlock, Charlie Sheen.  Ryder played Lucas’ best friend with an unrequited crush.  Courtney Thorne-Smith and Jeremy Piven had small roles as well.

Everything about Lucas is cliché right down to the slow clap that ended every coming of age movie from the 80’s.  But the cast and execution set it apart.  Ryder’s role was small, but it helped get her noticed for later roles.

ryder - square dance
Winona Ryder – Square Dance – 1987

In 1987, Ryder got her first lead role in the low-budget country music drama, Square Dance which co-starred Jason Robards and Rob Lowe.

Ryder plays a teen from the country who ventures into the city.  No doubt she learns important life lessons.  I haven’t seen the movie myself, so I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a slow clap.

Odds are you haven’t heard of Square Dance either.  It’s a small movie.  But it showed casting directors that Ryder could play a lead.

ryder-beetlejuice
Winona Ryder – Beetlejuice – 1988

In 1988, Ryder appeared in Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice was a transitional film for director Tim Burton.  Pee Wee’s Big Adventure had shown that the former Disney animator could direct a hit film.  Based on the success of that film, Warner Brothers was willing to develop his idea for a Batman movie.  But they wouldn’t green light it yet.

In the meanwhile, Burton began looking at scripts he could direct at a budget the studio would agree to.  He settled on the supernatural comedy, Beetlejuice.  Burton cast Ryder as the goth teen, Lydia Deetz, after seeing her performance in Lucas.  The rest of the cast was filled with actors who would also go on to great success.

Beetlejuice helped save Michael Keaton’s flagging career.   It gave Burton the clout he needed to make his Batman movie.  Ryder (along with co-stars Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) didn’t get as much credit for Beetlejuice‘s success.  But it certainly helped get them noticed.  And it was the start of a partnership with Tim Burton.

ryder 1969
Winona Ryder – 1968 – 1988

In 1988, Ryder also appeared in 1969.  That’s the name of a movie.  I didn’t mean to suggest Ryder was a time traveler.

In the late 80’s, there was a wave of 60’s nostalgia that elevated hippies to the level of sainthood.  As a result, Hollywood released a handful of movies starring the 80’s brat pack celebrating the Summer of Love.

1969 starred Ryder, Keifer Sutherland (who went on to star in the hippie-comedy Flashback) and Robert Downey Jr.  1969 didn’t have much of an impact on anyone’s career.  It got mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.

slater - heathers
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater – Heathers – 1989

In 1989, Ryder starred opposite Christian Slater in the cult classic dark comedy, Heathers.

Ryder played a high school girl who has been invited to join the popular girls all three of which happen to be named Heather.  Kim Walker played Heather Chandler, the leader of the group.  Lisanne Falk played Heather McNamara, the cheerleader.  And Shannen Doherty played the third Heather, Heather Duke.  Slater played the new boy in school, a rebel with the same initials as James Dean.  When Ryder and Walker have a falling out, Slater suggests murder.  Soon, Ryder finds herself staging fake suicides for her classmates.

Screenwriter Daniel Waters originally envisioned Heathers as a three-hour movie directed by Stanley Kubrick.  When he couldn’t get his script to the legendary director, Waters gave it to Michael Lehmann who showed it to producer Denise Di Novi.  According to Di Novi: “I brought it to the executives at New World, and they were like, ‘What the hell is this? Are you crazy?'”

Di Novi sold the indie studio on the script, but they demanded a few changes.  In the original script, Slater’s character succeeds in blowing up the school and all the characters are reunited at a prom scene in heaven.  Another alternate ending had Veronica stabbed to death by a classmate who mistook her for one of the Heathers.  But the studio resisted that ending as well.

In the early stages of production, an informal read-through of the script included Dana Delaney as Veronica and Brad Pitt as J.D.  According to Waters:

After the reading was over, the pimply faced, blond Brad Pitt came up to me and said, ‘Hey, man, I know I’m not anybody. But for what it’s worth, that was brilliant.’

Jennifer Connelly and Justine Bateman were both offered the leading role and passed.  Ryder had to plead with Waters for the part.  Waters remembered seeing Ryder from the movie Lucas and deemed her not attractive enough.  But according to Lehman, he recognized Ryder’s star potential immediately.

The first time we shot with her, I turned to the cameraman and said, ‘This girl is a movie star.’

Christian Slater - Heathers - 1989
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater – Heathers – 1989

According to Slater, his audition for Heathers did not go well.

I remember leaving the audition and feeling like, ‘Oh God, I really blew it.’ I threw the script in the garbage angrily. I had a big tantrum.

Heather Graham was the first choice to play Heather Chandler.  But the young actress’ parents objected to the subject matter and refused to let her play the part.  When Lehmann couldn’t change Graham’s mother’s mind, they cast their second choice who happened to be Slater’s girlfriend at the time.

I really wanted to cast Heather Graham, and her parents wouldn’t let her do it. She was 16 or 17. I even talked to Heather’s mother at great length to convince her we weren’t tools of Satan, and she would have nothing of it. I really tried. I mean, I begged her. Heather’s reading was just great. Then the casting director said, ‘Well, Kim Walker might be good. She doesn’t have a lot of experience, but…’

Winona Ryder and Christian Slater - Heathers - 1989
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater – Heathers – 1989

Heathers has a minuscule $3 million dollar budget and just 33 days in which to shoot.  That meant long days for the cast and crew.  According to Lehmann, Slater was “professional, but there were a couple of times when he slept in late and we had to retrieve him. He said he had a sleeping disorder.”  Slater said he doesn’t remember being late, but if he ever had a sleeping disorder he has since recovered.  According to co-star Lisanne Falk, Slater was always “in his trailer or smoking cigarettes”.  Doherty agreed that Slater was “a tiny bit aloof.”  Slater admitted that he was focused on Ryder to the exclusion of the rest of the cast:

I got so into working with Winona that I had blinders on to everyone else. It was almost like J.D. didn’t have patience for any of those people, either. I stayed away from Shannen. She seemed to not have any interest in me, so I just kept my distance.

During filming, Slater and Walker broke up.  According to Slater:

Kim`s a terrific actress.  But then there was Winona Ryder. She`s a beautiful girl. She`s wonderful, she`s talented, she`s very energetic, she`s very entertaining, she`s very funny. So it was difficult for me not to fall in love with her. Having my girlfriend on the set made not falling in love with her much easier. But yeah — that chemistry made it, uh, a … nice working environment. And it made for some interesting moments in my life. Winona and I are just good friends now, too.

Christian Slater and Winona Ryder
Christian Slater and Winona Ryder

Slater and Ryder disagree over whether or not they were ever a couple.  Slater claims that they tried out a romantic relationship.  Ryder admits she had a crush on Slater but says they never went out.  According to Ryder:

There were a couple of times where we tried to go out, but there was always some sort of drama. Nothing happened until after the movie. Then I do remember, like, making out with him a few times after he broke up with Kim.

Heathers was released in Europe in 1988.  When it hit theaters in the US, New World Pictures was in the middle of a bankruptcy.  Di Novi described the release as ” a nightmare.”  She said she had to pay for an ad for the movie in the L.A. Time herself.  New World gave Heathers a limited release topping out at just over 50 theaters.  During its theatrical run, it grossed just over $1 million dollars or approximately one third of its budget.  Over time, the movie has developed a strong cult following.

Winona Ryder and Christian Slater - Heathers - 1989
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater – Heathers – 1989

Following the movie’s box office failure, Waters tried to pitch a TV show based on the movie to the fledgling Fox network.  According to Waters, Fox liked the script but chose to make Beverly Hills 90210 instead.  That show made a star of Heathers cast-member Shannen Doherty.  Waters also came up with an idea for a Heathers sequel:

I did come up with this crazy, cockamamy Heathers 2 where Veronica becomes a page for a senator named Heather, played by Meryl Streep. The ending is her assassinating the president and getting away with it — and it’s a good thing.

Ryder liked the idea so much, she pitched it to Streep without consulting anyone:

I was working with Meryl on The House of the Spirits. I was pitching her the whole thing in the makeup chair one day. She was very sweet about it, and she was like, ‘Oh, that sounds really great!’ But what else are you going to tell a panting 19-year-old? She could’ve been just waiting for me to shut up.

Over the years, there has been talk of a sequel or a TV series.  But neither one has ever happened.  In 2010, the movie was directed into a stage play which had an Off Broadway run in 2014.  Despite being a box office failure, Heathers had an immense cultural impact.  It also made Ryder and Slater into movie stars.

ryder - Great Balls Of Fire
Winona Ryder – Great Balls of Fire! – 1989

In 1989, Ryder also starred alongside Dennis Quaid in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic, Great Balls of Fire.

Ryder played Myra Gale Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis’ cousin whom he married when she was only 13.  Yikes!

The movie got mostly negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office.

ryder - welcome home roxy charmichael
Winona Ryder – Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael – 1990

1990 was yet another big year for Ryder.  She started off starring in another small teenage drama, Welcome Home Roxie Carmichael.

The movie co-starred Jeff Daniels.  While it didn’t get great reviews or do especially well at the box office, Ryder’s performance was singled out for praise.

ryder - edward scissorhands
Winona Ryder – Edward Scissorhands – 1990

Later that year, Ryder re-teamed with Tim Burton for Edward Scissorhands.

Burton used his post-Batman box office clout to make a dark fable about a troubled outsider with scissors for hands.

Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role of Kim, but Ryder was cast based on her previous relationship with Burton on Beetlejuice.  The title role was played by Johnny Depp who would go on to collaborate with Tim Burton 100 million times.

winona ryder and johnny depp 1991
Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp – 1991

Ryder and Depp eventually got engaged.  Depp actually got a tattoo which read “Winona forever.”  However, when the relationship ended, he had it altered to read “Wino forever.”

Edward Scissorhands got mostly positive reviews and was a hit at the box office.  It is also the final movie to feature the legendary Vincent Price.

ryder - mermaids
Winona Ryder – Mermaids – 1990

One week after the release of Edward Scissorhands (and the same day it went into wide release) Ryder also appeared in Mermaids.

Mermaids starred Cher as a single mother of two.  The daughters were played by Ryder and Christina Ricci in her first film role.

Emily Lloyd was cast as the oldest daughter.  But a few weeks into filming, Cher objected to Lloyd’s blonde hair and had her fired.  Cher lived up to her diva image filming Mermaids.  In addition to Lloyd, Cher had two directors fired from the film.

Mermaids got mostly positive reviews and was a sleeper hit at the box office.  Ryder received a Golden Globe nomination for the film.

Winona Ryder dropped out of The Godfather: Part III
Winona Ryder dropped out of The Godfather: Part III

Originally, Ryder was supposed to appear in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather III which was also released in 1990.  But Ryder dropped out of the picture at the last-minute citing exhaustion (or something – accounts are vague and sometimes contradictory).  The role was eventually played by Coppola’s daughter who proved that as an actress, she makes a great director.

ryder - night on earth
Winona Ryder – Night on Earth – 1991

In 1991, Ryder played a cab driver in a segment of  Jim Jarmusch’s drama Night on Earth.

Unless you’re a pretty serious film buff, you might be asking yourself “Who the hell is Jim Jarmusch?”  He’s a very well-respected independent director.  Being cast in one of his movies is a pretty big deal even if most audiences are unaware of it.  Night on Earth demonstrates Ryder’s rising status in the early 90s.

ryder - dracula
Winona Ryder – Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 1992

Ryder’s next major role was Mina Harker in Francis Ford Coppola’s update of Dracula.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula was Ryder’s official entrance to the big time.  Not only was it a lead role in a big budget movie, but it allowed Ryder to make the transition from playing high school girls to playing more adult roles.

Ryder brought the script to Coppola during a meeting to clear the air about Ryder’s departure from The Godfather III.  Coppola liked the script and chose it as his next project.  Hollywood Insiders thought the movie was too weird and dubbed the film “Bonfire of the Vampires” (a reference to the notorious flop, Bonfire of the Vanities).

Dracula received mixed to positive reviews and was a hit at the box office.  Although, to my mind, it is best remembered for Keanu Reeves’ attempts not to say “dude” while playing Jonathan Harker.  Most heinous, dude!

And just for fun, I am adding this oft-requested gif of Ryder running.

ryder running
Winona Ryder – Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 1992

I don’t know why that is so popular.  But I try to give my readers what they want.

ryder - age of innocence
Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder – The Age of Innocence – 1993

In 1993, Ryder appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Age of Innocence alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Age of Innocence was a rare period piece for Scorsese and audiences weren’t especially interested.  However, the movie got great reviews and Ryder was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Ryder actually won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

I haven’t seen Age of Innocence since it was released.  I remember that it moved slowly.  But the ending blew my mind.  I can’t remember what the big reveal was, but I remember it showed the true depth of Ryder’s character.

ryder - houseofthespirits
Winona Ryder – The House of the Spirits – 1993

That same year, Ryder appeared opposite Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas in The House of Spirits.

This German-Danish-Portuguese production was off the radar of most mainstream audiences.  But Ryder was gaining prestige starring in this little movies.

REALITY BITES (1994)
Winona Ryder – Reality Bites – 1994

At the risk of repeating myself, 1994 was another big year for Winona Ryder.

Reality Bites was intended to be THE Generation X movie.  And what a cast!  Ryder co-starred opposite Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller (who also directed), Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn and Andy Dick.  Renee Zelleweger even shows up for a second.

At the time, Ben Stiller was unproven at the box office.  He was developing Reality Bites without a budget and needed a Hollywood A-lister to sign on in order to get the budget approved.  Ryder, who wanted a break from period dramas, decided she liked the script.

Ryder explained that she was looking for “”something a little more contemporary because I really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change.”

reality bites
Winona Ryder – Reality Bites – 1994

Ryder’s  involvement got the movie green-lit.  She threw some weight around and demanded that Ethan Hawke play her love interest.  The studio wanted Gweneth Paltrow for Janeane Garofalo’s role.  But Ryder backed Garofalo for the role.  Later, Stiller (who knew Garofalo from The Ben Stiller Show) fired the actress.  But Ryder stepped in and got her the role back.

Appropriately enough, the slacker comedy was only a modest hit and got mixed to positive reviews.  Frankly, the soundtrack was a bigger deal than the movie itself.  But the movie (and the soundtrack) cemented Ryder’s iconic status as the premiere actress of Gen X.  Which was probably at least partially responsible for the career trouble she would have in the future…

dunst - little women
Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst – Little Women – 1994

In 1994, Ryder also starred opposite Susan Sarandon, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado, Kirsten Dunst and Christian Bale in a remake of Little Women.

Expectations were not high for the Little Women remake, but surprisingly the reviews were positive and the film was a hit – albeit a modest one.

Ryder received another Oscar nomination for the film.

ryder - how to make an american quilt
Winona Ryder – How to Make an American Quilt – 1995

In 1995, Ryder starred in How to Make an American Quilt.

The movie, based on the novel of the same name, told the stories of several women in a quilting bee.  It was an ensemble cast, but Ryder’s character was front and center.  The movie got middling reviews and did so-so box office.

Quilt may seem like a mild career mis-step.  But it began a string of well-intentioned misses for Ryder that would ultimately lead to her irrelevance.

MSDBOYS EC002
Winona Ryder – Boys – 1996

Ryder’s next film was Boys with Lukas Haas.  And boy, was it a sign of the hard times to come.

Roger Ebert said, “Boys is a low-rent, dumbed-down version of Before Sunrise, with a rent-a-plot substituting for clever dialogue.”  Ouch.  The movie bombed at the box office earning about a half a million dollars.  Double ouch!

ryder - the crucible
Winona Ryder – The Crucible – 1996

In 1996, Ryder also appeared in an adaptation of  The Crucible.

I see the thinking here.  If Ryder can make a hit out of Little Women, maybe she can do the same with a period piece like The Crucible.  However, this one went more along the lines of Ryder’s previous film with Daniel Day-Lewis, Age of Innocence.

The reviews were good.  But the movie tanked at the box office.

ryder - alien
Winona Ryder – Alien: Resurrection – 1997

In 1997, Ryder tried to score another box office hit by ditching the period pieces and going the sci-fi route with Alien Resurrection.  The fourth film in the franchise was actually the least successful of the four domestically.

The movie got mixed to negative reviews but did well enough overseas to be considered a hit.

Writer Joss Whedon had this to say about Alien 4:

“It wasn’t a question of doing everything differently…it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong…They did everything wrong that they could possibly do…it wasn’t so much that they’d changed the script; it’s that they just executed it in such a ghastly fashion as to render it almost unwatchable.”

ryder - celebrity
Winona Ryder – Celebrity – 1998

Making a Woody Allen movie is kind of a rite of passage for Hollywood celebrities.  It’s a sign that you’ve made it.  Allen has a pretty good track record of winning awards for his supporting actresses.  Unfortunately for Ryder, the Allen movie she appeared in, Celebrity, was one of the worst reviewed movies of Allen’s career.

Like most Woody Allen movies, it didn’t attract much of an audience either.

ryder damon
Winona Ryder and Matt Damon – 1998

Ryder didn’t release a movie in 1998.  But she did begin a high-profile romantic relationship with Matt Damon.  At the time, Damon’s best bud, Ben Affleck was dating Brad Pitt’s ex, Gweneth Paltrow.  Paltrow and Ryder were besties, so she hooked her up with Damon.  For a time, the four of them seemed inseparable.

ryder paltrow
Winona Ryder and Gweneth Paltrow

Ryder and Paltrow eventually had a falling out over the film, Shakespeare in Love.  There was a rumor going around that Paltrow found the script for Shakespeare sitting on a coffee table at Ryder’s place.  Supposedly, Paltrow stole the plum role from her best friend and went on to win an Oscar for it.

This rumor has largely been debunked.  However, it drove a wedge between Paltrow and Ryder.  Apparently, Paltrow believed that Ryder leaked the rumor out of jealousy.  Years later, Paltrow crowed about Ryder’s downfall on her blog.

ryder - girl interrupted
Winona Ryder – Girl, Interrupted – 1999

In 1999, Ryder appeared in the melodrama Girl, Interrupted.  The movie co-starred Britney Murphey, Whoopi Goldberg and newcomer Angelina Jolie.  Ryder produced the film herself.

The reviews were pretty mixed, but Girl, Interrupted was a modest hit.

Unfortunately, Jolie pretty much stole the movie from Ryder and was rewarded with an Oscar for doing so.

ryder - autumn in new york
Winona Ryder – Autumn in New York – 2000

2000 was a bust for Ryder.  She released two critically reviled bombs.  The first, Autumn in New York (pictured) was a May-December romance co-starring Richard Gere.  Ick!

Spoiler alert: She dies.  No one sheds a tear.  Ryder and Gere were nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Screen Couple.

Ryder also bombed with the Satan-themed horror film, Lost Souls which was delayed several times before being released in October 2000.

ryder - shoplifting
Winona Ryder – Shoplifting scandal – 2001

In 2001, Ryder made a cameo in Zoolander and she also got arrested for shoplifting.  I guess I buried the lead there.  Ryder reportedly stole over $5,000 in merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue and (to make a long story short) they threw the book at her.

I’m not too interested in digging up the details of a 10-year-old scandal.  If you’re interested, odds are you already know the story.  Otherwise, it’s out there for you to research.  The question that interests me is how much the scandal impacted Ryder’s career.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqmvi2OGd9k]

I think it’s undeniable that it put a pretty big dent in Ryder’s career.  Much like Meg Ryan, Ryder had a “girl next door” image.  And the shoplifting incident tarnished that if not outright destroyed it.

But Ryder’s career was already cooling off before the arrest.  I think she was probably slipping anyway.  Her Gen X fans had moved on.  The prestigious roles with directors like Coppola and Scorsese were going to other actresses.

Essentially, the scandal didn’t ruin her career.  But it accelerated a slide that was already happening.

ryder - mr deeds
Winona Ryder – Mr. Deeds – 2002

Ryder attempted a comeback in 2002 with the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds.  Like most Sandler films, the reviews were terrible.  The movie was a hit for reasons only Sandler’s fans understand.

Co-starring in a Sandler film usually adds a hit movie to your resume.  But his co-stars don’t get any credit since almost all of Sandler’s films are hits (a phenomenon I do not comprehend in the least).

Mr. Deeds was a hit at the box office.  It was a comeback after his first-ever flop, Little Nicky.  But it wasn’t as big as Sandler’s previous smashes like The Waterboy and Big Daddy.

Ryder received another Golden Raspberry nomination.

ryder - simone
Winona Ryder – S1m0ne – 2002

Ryder also had a small part in the Al Pacino dud, Simone.

Ryder played a difficult starlet who walked out on Pacino’s movie.  Rather than reshoot the movie, Pacino’s character replaced Ryder’s character with a virtual actress.

Ryder’s part was a small one.  But ultimately it didn’t matter much.  Simone got poor reviews and was ignored at the box office.

ryder - scanner darkly
Winona Ryder – A Scanner Darkly – 2006

After this, Ryder went into semi-exile.  She popped up from time to time as she did in Richard Linklater’s 2006 roto-scoped film, A Scanner Darkly.

She reteamed with Heathers writer Daniel Waters for the 2007 bomb, Sex and Death 101.  But her comeback wouldn’t begin until 2009.

ryder - star trek
Winona Ryder – Star Trek – 2009

In 2009, Ryder appeared in what is really a cameo role as Mr. Spock’s mom in the Star Trek reboot.

The role is so small, you wouldn’t really expect much to come from it.  But it seemed to remind Hollywood that Ryder was out there.  And free from her scandal, she was ready to get back to work.

ryder - black swan
Winona Ryder – Black Swan – 2010

In 2010, Ryder was perfectly cast as the washed-up ballet dancer Natalie Portman would replace in The Black Swan.  Again, it was a small role.  But it sent a message.  Ryder was hireable again.

The Black Swan was huge.  It made Natalie Portman an A-list star.  It proved that Mila Kunis was more than just a TV actor with a pretty face (in other words, more than Ashton Kutcher).  I have to think it gave the great Barbara Hershey a career bump.  And it gave Ryder’s burgeoning come-back traction.

ryder - the dilema
Winona Ryder – The Dilemma – 2011

Unfortunately, Ryder’s next movie was the Vince Vaughn/Kevin James comedy, The Dilemma.

It must have looked good on paper.  Vaughn and James have good comedy track records.  Ron Howard is an A-list director.  But the movie was an embarrassment to the studio before it even opened due to a trailer that featured Vaughn making homophobic comments.

This version of the trailer does not contain the offending comment.

The studio barely promoted the film (which got bad reviews anyway) and it flopped.

Luckily for Ryder, I don’t think anyone even realized she was in it.

Winona Ryder – Frankenweenie – 2012

Ryder’s next film was the Tim Burton stop-motion feature, Frankenweenie.

Frankenweenie bombed at the box office in spite of mostly positive reviews.

You can probably chalk this up to bad timing.  It was the third spooky kid’s film to be released in the fall of 2012.  And it ended up being completely over-shadowed by Adam Sandler’s Hotel Transylvania which was released the week before Frankenweenie opened.  But at least it showed that Burton still had Ryder’s phone number.

So, what the hell happened to Winona Ryder?

Ryder never really made the transition from teenager to adult roles.  Even now in her 40’s, she still looks like an elvish princess.  Unlike a lot of actresses who are undone by their age, Ryder’s career was hindered by looking eternally young.

Her bizarre off-screen behavior certainly didn’t help matters.  But at the end of the day, I think Ryder was limited by her range and picked the wrong projects.  Once her fans outgrew their boyhood crushes, she couldn’t deliver at the box office any more.

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remembertheredskins
12 years ago

Definitely one of my big screen crushes. Her and Marisa Tomei.
>Ahem<
How many other performers connect so fully in such a small movie, show talent and build a fanbase, but never QUITE connect that way again? Despite a very impressive resume, Heathers remains Winona's signature film by leaps and bounds.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

STARS WHO BOTCHED A BIG COMEBACK http://www.looper.com/2529/stars-botched-big-comeback/ MARISA TOMEI In addition to giving Mickey Rourke’s career a much-needed shot in the arm, The Wrestler was also a vehicle for a brave performance by a then 44-year-old Marisa Tomei. It had been a long, long time since her Oscar win for My Cousin Vinny, and Mel Gibson’s ridiculous What Women Want was arguably the most high-profile film in her rearview, so she definitely found herself back in the who’s who after The Wrestler. Despite once again being a critical darling, Tomei has failed to capitalize on it. Though she’s landed the… Read more »

RL
RL
10 years ago

You know, not being able to ever quite regain the heights of a Heathers is probably a cross a lot of actresses would love to have to bear; many of Ryder’s contemporaries who have ended up having more successful careers, I would argue, never had that Veronica Sawyer role that lives on decades afterward. And that’s completely ignoring Lydia Deetz, another long-lived icon!

jeremylukens
12 years ago

As another Gen X-er, I was a big Ryder fan. My favorite was definitely Heathers. Everything about it was great, including her performance. That’s why it was so painful to see her in two of the worst movies ever filmed, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Alien Resurrection.

remembertheredskins
12 years ago

Wow, I certainly wouldn’t be that harsh about Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I would say that it is frustratingly short of being awesome. Ryder herself is part of the problem, but Keanau singlehandedly nearly ruins the film completely. I’m betting that if Harker was recast, the movie would be SUBSTANTIALLY better than it is. Most of the scenes he isn’t in, I actually enjoy.

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago

Keanu was in a lot of films back then- hence the Geffen rumors.
As much as I hate rumors- there as to be an explanation for Keanu being in everything in the Nineties (except Speed 2- which shows he had some brains)

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

yeah- Colin Farrell was in everything in the early 2000’s- Joel Schumacher was sure he’d be a big star (I remember reading an interview where everyone at a Hollywood party was impressed by him) – he might have been- if he had done less Schumacher movies.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  Mastro
Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Retrospective / Review: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG5FMRJ5t2E&list=UU4zKSynEH_sLA1TC8_kU0gQ

wtfhappenedtomyreallife

I have to agree with you about Frankenstein! I was actually in high school when that came out. It was my senior year and I was doing a book report on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The book was powerful and moving and it was such a great story. I was so very impressed with the work that I thought it would be a great idea to watch the movie the day before my report was due. I have very rarely been that disappointed with a movie. I will disagree with you about Dracula. It may be because I was also in… Read more »

remembertheredskins
12 years ago

I don’t always dislike Keannu. He was actually pretty darn good in “Something’s Gotta Give,” but eegads he was so inappropriate and out of his element in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” I just try to ignore him anytime I watch what is otherwise a decent film.

thommacintyre
12 years ago

See above ^^ I want to say, since I have ran across your site, I have read one or two a day. Well done, both in writing and content. Now, with the (sincere) syrup out of the way, this one is the dud. She is atrocious. The Swedish Erotica 8 mm in the Army have better actresses than her. WATCH Dracula. With the exception of Gary Oldman (until his character comes to England) the film is a heartbreaking waste. The only bigger waste of a cast is Frankenstein. BUT besides my disagreement with this piece, the site is great. Rock… Read more »

daffystardust
Editor
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Understandable. We read both the same year, and after “The Scarlet Letter,” nobody was very thrilled to be staring puritans in the face again. “The Crucible” was much more engaging, though.
Maybe once we’re into dress rehearsals, I’ll post some pics or something.
Thanks!

ninariccieee
ninariccieee
11 years ago

Oh my gosh, i love ryder despite the scandal! She’s awesome.

daffystardust
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  ninariccieee

She will always have a place in my heart. A lot of people probably don’t remember how homogenous the sex symbol population of the 70s-mid 80s was. Lots of trashy blondes and Mary Tyler Moore and Audrey Hepburn were already too adult for my age group. Ryder seemed like a breath of fresh air to a kid who admired those actresses and also preferred punk to disco or hippie music.
Wino 4 ever!

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

“Ryder seemed like a breath of fresh air to a kid who admired those actresses and also preferred punk to disco or hippie music.”
Er– Punk versus disco? Ryder was a kid in the late Eighties- Disco Demolition was over by then, surely?

Shemp
10 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

Remember the line by Pacino as Lucifer in “The Devil’s Advocate”: “I have so many names…”
So did/does disco — when the word became uncool, it became “house” and “techno” and now “dubstep” and…it goes by many names…

Paul S
11 years ago

Funnily enough I heard the “Shoop Shoop Song” on the radio at work one day this week and it instantly brought Winona Ryder and Mermaids to my mind.
I also watched The Age Of Innocence again, for the first time in many years, and I thought she best thing in it, surprisingly far more interesting than Michelle Pfeiffer’s Countess Olenska!
As ninariccieee says it’s a shame about the scandal because she was a very appealing talent.

Jake
Jake
11 years ago

To me, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” is the worst Dracula film because it is not as close to the book as the title would have you believe. Had it presented itself as simply another take on the count, I’d have accepted it on those terms and would probably be less harsh with it. But the way Coppola & screnwriter James Hart insisted it was all Stoker makes a critical analysis imperative. The film’s ‘reincarnated love across the ages’ crap makes it as misleading (if not more so) as “Jason Takes Manhattan.”

JediJones
JediJones
11 years ago

I neither get the appeal nor share the appeal for this actress. Her name on a film does nothing for me but give me a reason to avoid it. It seems like she herself was manufactured in a laboratory by Tim Burton to play nothing but dour, sour, glowering, gothic and thoroughly unhappy and unlikable parts. The shoplifting scandal didn’t come as a surprise to me at all because this is a woman who seems perpetually distant, detached, confused, lost and forlorn in everything she does. To me she is inseparable from the detestable and despicable trend of dark, depressing,… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

The Letter takes a pretentious, tedious dive into Winona Ryder’s fractured psyche: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-letter-takes-a-pretentious-tedious-dive-into-w,90571/ At the risk of employing hyperbole, you could not be a moderately sensitive heterosexual young man in the late ’80s and early ’90s and not have a massive crush on Winona Ryder. For me and countless other members of my generation, Ryder was the ultimate dream girl, a gorgeous sprite with a quirky, offbeat sensibility and vaguely cerebral charms. She was Tim Burton’s muse as the iconic star of Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Beetlejuice, and the high-profile paramour of Johnny Depp (who famously got… Read more »

Nomi Sunrider
11 years ago

Winonas downfall is natural. She took the wrong roles, kept her role potential narrow and finally lost her innocence. Remember the Nino from Girl-Interrupted? She’s gone. Nino has lost it.
She relied on her looks and those have changed dramatically. She should have expanded her potential for overtaking more complex roles, but refused. Thus, one thing came to the other and there was nothing left to keep her at the top.
The shop-lifting finally shot her over the cliff. No potential as actress on the one hand, legal disaster on the other hand, dead Nino in the end.

Nomi Sunrider
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

You want Winona back because you like her. Your opinion is based on your emotions. I look at her more objectively. On the big scale, it doesn’t matter what Nino wanted but only what Nino can deliver. People loved her as sweet young girl, a look which she was able to keep for some years. Then she lost it. In Hollywood, as a woman, your career depends on your looks. If those get lost, you fall. Nino is no longer sweet. That means dead end of career. Then the shoplifting incident has thrown fire to the oil. The innocent young… Read more »

D.Gabriello
D.Gabriello
10 years ago
Reply to  Nomi Sunrider

I just watched The Letter. She certainly hasn’t lost her looks in my opinion. She’s porcelain and the camera loves her in all sorts of lighting situations–even lit from the side which is often not flattering on people in their late 30s early 40s but she looked great. Agreeing with someone else on the VO being annoying but her acting is remarkably natural in this film and stronger than I remember from her heyday roles.

D.Gabriello
D.Gabriello
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Having a childlike-look on a middle-aged face is OK on men and not women? Wow, this is a new sexist thing I never even heard of. And I have to disagree…It’s working for Mary Louise Parker and the much older Sally Field to name a few off the top of my head…

sondra sky
sondra sky
11 years ago

I was neither a fan nor a “hater” of Winona’s back in her heydey. Truth is, I really didn’t have much time for movies back then and as a result I was rather clueless and indifferent to all the popular Hollywood kids of the era. It wasn’t until my older years that I finally got around to watching Dracula and that was when I really took a liking to her (and have gotten caught up on some of her other films since then). Unlike many Stoker faithfuls, I’m unimpressed by the novel (I’ve read it a few times trying to… Read more »

Jake
Jake
10 years ago
Reply to  sondra sky

Re; “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” That’s just it. We, the audience, were specifically told by both Coppola &, in particular, screenwriter James V. Hart that the film would be THE definitive adaptation of the book. The final product proved really no closer than many of the other versions. If those two had simply kept their mouths shut & just called the picture “Dracula,” there would not have been as much disappointment. For example, I actually enjoyed “Sleepy Hollow” more than the original Washington Irving story. There are quite a few differences between the two but Tim Burton didn’t say that his… Read more »

Nomi Sunrider
11 years ago

The question is not whether Nino can do it. The question is whether the film bosses believe she will still sell. Now I agree she has received some roles. Yet, who says they are not simply selling her before dumping her? Getting some quick dollars before she sinks into oblivion? We know how Hollywood works. Money counts. Of course, they’re not dumping Nino yet. She is still attracting money. The difference is whether she’s still getting roles as a prominent puppet, or whether she receives roles as an actress. The later would be the only honorable one. The first means… Read more »

Fabrio
Fabrio
11 years ago

Its sad what is happpeinig to her i was in love for this woman,real platonic passion,true,but im not a stalker or a psycho thing ,i dont go to usa to round her house like some kind of stupid guys do,i live in brazil,and i watched all of her movies but she is ethernal for me in mermaids,i think she is beautyful and very expressive,and she reminds me familiar,i dont know why,ok,i had girfriends,im not a basement-joe a-hole,i have a social life,but,i must confess I LOVE THIS WOMAN FOR TRUE,she dont know me,i did n care with she is reading this… Read more »

Reggie
Reggie
11 years ago

I’m surprised at how many fans she has. Her IMDb message board is more active than Angelina Jolie’s. That’s odd. I never thought she was an exceptional actress and I’m not really disappointed that her career is over. But wow she really has a hard core fan base.

Reggie
Reggie
11 years ago
Reply to  Reggie

To add on that, Jolie owns Girl Interrupted. When I first saw that film I couldn’t care less about Ryder. Jolie stole it. It was kind of foolish of her to think she could make her comeback in a movie where she would obviously be overshadowed by another actress.

Reggie
Reggie
11 years ago
Reply to  Reggie

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Jolie was a relative unknown. She had already won 2 Golden Globe Awards. Although she wasn’t a box office draw (yet) she was already a very respected actress and was hailed as the next big thing after Gia. I also read that Ryder said she knew whoever played Lisa was going to win an Oscar, because of the script. I’m just glad Jolie got the attention she deserved for that film.

Ingmar
Ingmar
9 years ago
Reply to  Reggie

Ryder, as one of the Executive Producers of the film, was determined to cast Jolie as Lisa.

mr. ngoc
11 years ago

This is an interesting one -.- U forgot the whole Gwyneth Shakespear Matt Damon thing -.- If I remember correctly part of Ryder’s recognition is her relationships with Depp and then Damon. I found it strange u didnt bring this up

mr. ngoc
11 years ago

I know tabloid shouldnt matter with film career. But u cant deny its role in helping what makes a star. I mean, take Angie vs Charlize, both r beautiful / versatile & talented (action-drama-comedy – in fact i gave bonus points 4 Theron) and r meant to be a superstar. Yet only Angie is, The tabloid factor clearly helps (Charlize has too many bombs, though, but if she has a more popular relationship she will escape them easier) What I’m refering to in Winona’s however is the whole Shakespear In Love thing -.- Gwyneth claims Winona backstabbed her and if… Read more »

Chris
Chris
11 years ago

I was shocked to learn that she played Spock’s mother in the last Trek film, too young (or young looking, anyway) for the part in my opinion, or maybe I’m just getting old and refuse to accept that she is too.
Does anyone remember her in “Night on Earth”?

Joe
Joe
11 years ago
Reply to  Chris

She looked rather older in Trek. When I first saw her, my reaction was ‘is that Winona Ryder? Can’t be, too old. But it looks just like her!’
Look: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Winona_Ryder That’s why I was so thrown. But considering the other picture, I’m guessing it was just makeup.

RB
RB
11 years ago

Disclaimer: I am rather a fan of hers and think she is one of the more underrated actresses around. This blog is however, about the only place where I have seen any real discussion of Girl, Interrupted. Now – this viewpoint is no doubt going to be in the minority, but I seriously do believe that she did a far, far better acting job in the movie than Jolie. I think it was gutsy for her to make this movie and an extremely challenging role to play. In fact, AJ could not possibly have carried it off. Unfortunately, people are… Read more »

Ingmar
Ingmar
9 years ago
Reply to  RB

I wasn’t a big fan of the Jim Mangold adaptation of Girl, Interrupted either(although I loved “Heavy”). Maybe it’s because I was a big fan of the book and when I heard the book was being made into a movie starring Winona—who just happens to be one of my favorites–I was excited, only to be disappointed by the final product. There’s only two Winona Ryder movies missing from my DVD collection–“Girl, Interrupted” and “The Informers”. I don’t care much to see those movies again. I’d rather re-read “Girl, Interrupted”, the book again than watch the movie, but personally, I thought… Read more »

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