Winona Ryder’s Fame Eventually Limited Her Opportunities: “There Was Baggage”

Winona Ryder became so famous early in her career that it began to cost her roles she genuinely wanted because of the “baggage” associated with her fame.

The Oscar-nominated actress spoke with Esquire UK ahead of the release of her upcoming film, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. She discussed her fame, being bullied after the first Beetlejuice movie, her role in Stranger Things, and more.

Ryder explained that she reached a point in her career where she was being pushed towards mainstream blockbusters that didn’t particularly interest her. The industry started associating her with a type of movie she didn’t want to make, and her fame began to interfere with opportunities she genuinely desired.

There was also an excessive focus on her personal life. “Trying to convince someone to ignore the noise around me was tough. I saw it in their eyes. I lost a lot of parts because of that,” she shared with the publication.

“I’m not in any way complaining,” she added. “But there was this whole time when I felt like I would be a distraction, as well. I got it. Certainly, in the 1990s, I became aware of that. And there was a switching-of-the-guard feeling, too. As you get older there are these new, younger actresses. It’s so drilled into you how disposable actresses can be, our shelf life. You hear it all the time.”

Ryder’s breakthrough role came when she was just 16, as she portrayed Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, opposite Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Alec Baldwin, and Geena Davis. While the film was successful, it didn’t improve her high school experience.

“I remember thinking that it was going to, like, change my status, and it made it worse,” she said. “They were like, ‘You’re a witch! You’re a freak!’ It amplified it. I was like, ‘But I’m in a movie!’”

During much of the early 2000s, Ryder took a step back from acting, appearing in smaller projects than she had previously. When she landed the role of Joyce Byers in Stranger Things, Ryder found herself back in the spotlight in a way she hadn’t experienced for a long time.

She was the initial draw for what is now a hit Netflix series, which is currently filming its fifth and final season in Atlanta. In her Esquire profile, the Heathers star acknowledged she’s “not oblivious” to the fact that she was cast for the “element of nostalgia” she brought to the 1980s-set sci-fi show, as that’s when she first broke into the industry.

“I’ve gone from being the youngest person on set to being the oldest,” she said, pointing out that it’s been 10 years since they first began filming the Emmy-nominated show. “I never thought. [At first] I was like, ‘I don’t want to be doing this when I’m in my fifties!’ It’s nuts, and its extra nuts to be my age. But I love the boys and I love [the actors] Sadie [Sink] and Maya [Hawke]. It’s been really wonderful.”

She also mentioned that she brought some of her understanding of a 1980s woman to the role. “I really fought for [Joyce’s] flaws,” Ryder added. “I didn’t want to be like supermom. I wanted her to be one of these women I saw [in the movies of the 1970s and 1980s], that was just doing the best they can.”

Source: Esquire UK