Winona Ryder



Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz; October 29, 1971) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton'sBeetlejuice (1988) as Lydia Deetz, a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition. After various appearances in film and television, Ryder continued her career with thecult film Heathers (1988), a controversial satire of teenage suicide and high school life, which drew Ryder further critical and commercial attention. She later appeared in Mermaids (1990) earning a Golden Globe nomination, in Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Francis Ford Coppola's gothic romance Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

Having played diverse roles in many well-received films, Ryder won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination in the same category for her role inThe Age of Innocence in 1993, as well as another Academy Award nomination for Little Women the following year for Best Actress. She later appeared in the Generation X cult hit Reality Bites (1994), Alien Resurrection (1997), the Woody Allen comedy Celebrity (1998) and Girl, Interrupted (1999) which she also executive-produced. In 2000, Ryder received a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.

Ryder's personal life has attracted significant media attention. Her relationship with Johnny Depp and a 2001 arrest for shoplifting were a constant subject of tabloid journalism. She has since revealed her personal struggles with anxiety and depression. In 2002, she appeared in the box office smash, Mr. Deeds. In 2006, Ryder returned to the screen after a brief hiatus, later appearing in high-profile films such as Star Trek. In 2010, she was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, as the lead actress of When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story, and as part of the cast of Black Swan. She also reunited with Burton for Frankenweenie (2012)

Early works, 1985–1990
In 1985, Ryder sent a videotaped audition, where she recited a monologue from the novel Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger, to appear in the film Desert Bloom. Although the part went to Annabeth Gish, writer/director David Seltzer noticed her talent and cast her in his 1986 film Lucas, about a boy called Lucas (Corey Haim) and his life at high school. Shot in the summer of 1985, the film co-starred Charlie Sheen and Kerri Green with Winona playing Rina, one of Lucas’s friends at school. When asked how she wanted her name to appear in the credits, she suggested "Ryder" as her surname because a Mitch Ryder album that belonged to her father was playing in the background.

 Her next movie was Square Dance (1987), where her teenage character creates a bridge between two different worlds – a traditional farm in the middle of nowhere and a large city. Ryder won acclaim for her role, and The Los Angeles Times called her performance in Square Dance "a remarkable debut." Both films, however, failed to gain Ryder any notice, and were only marginally successful commercially. Director Tim Burton decided to cast Ryder in his film Beetlejuice (1988), after being impressed with her performance in Lucas. I n the film, she plays  goth  teenager Lydia Deetz. Lydia's family moves to a  haunted house  populated by ghosts played by  Geena Davis ,  Alec Baldwin, and  Michael Keaton. Lydia quickly finds herself the only human with a strong  empathy  toward the ghosts and their situation. The film was a success at the box office, and Ryder's performance and the overall film received mostly positive reviews from critics.

 Ryder landed the role of Veronica Sawyer in the 1988 independent film Heathers. The film, a satirical take on teenage life, revolves around Veronica, who is ultimately forced to choose between the will of society and her own heart after her boyfriend, played by Christian Slater, begins killing off popular high school students. Ryder's agent initially begged her to turn the role down, saying the film would "ruin her career."Reaction to the film was largely positive,   and Ryder's performance was critically embraced, with  The Washington Post  stating Ryder is "Hollywood's most impressive inge'nue [ sic ] ... Ryder ... makes us love her teen-age murderess, a bright, funny girl with a little  Bonnie Parker  in her. She is the most likable, best-drawn young adult  protagonist  since the sexual innocent of  Gregory's Girl ."The film was a box office  flop, yet achieved status as a predominant  cult film .Later that year, she starred in  Great Balls of Fire! , playing the 13-year-old bride (and cousin) of  Jerry Lee Lewis. The film was a box office failure and received divided reviews from critics. [19]  In April 1989, she played the title role in the music video for  Mojo Nixon's  " Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child ".

In 1990, Ryder was selected for four film roles. She played the leading female role alongside her then-boyfriend Johnny Depp in the fantasy film Edward Scissorhands. The film reunited Tim Burton and Ryder, who had previously worked together on Beetlejuice in 1988. Edward Scissorhands was a significant box office success, grossing US$56 million at the United States box office and receiving much critical devotion. Later that year, she withdrew from the role of Mary Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (after traveling to Rome for filming) due to exhaustion. Eventually, Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola was cast in the role. Ryder's third role was in the family comedy-drama Mermaids (1990), which co-starred Cher and Christina Ricci. Mermaids was a moderate box office success and was embraced critically. Ryder's performance was acclaimed; critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "Winona Ryder, in another of her alienated outsider roles, generates real charisma." For her performance, Ryder received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Ryder then performed alongside Cher and Christina Ricci in the video for "The Shoop Shoop Song", the theme from Mermaids.

Following Mermaids she had the lead role in Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, a film about an adopted child Dinky Bossetti played by Ryder. The film co-starred Jeff Daniels and was deemed a flop due to its poor showing at the box office.

[edit] 1991–1995
In 1991, Ryder played a young taxicab driver who dreams of becoming a mechanic in Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth. The film was given only a limited release at the box office, but received critical praise.Ryder then starred in the dual roles of Count Dracula's reincarnated love interest Mina Murray and Dracula's past lover Princess Elisabeta, in Dracula (1992), a project she brought to director Francis Ford Coppola's attention.In 1993, she starred in the melodrama The House of the Spirits, based on Isabel Allende's novel. Ryder played the love interest of Antonio Banderas' character. Principal filming was done in Denmark and Portugal. The film was poorly reviewed and a box office flop, grossing just $6 million on its $40 million budget.

 Ryder starred in The Age of Innocence with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis, a film based on a novel by Edith Wharton and helmed by director Martin Scorsese, whom Ryder considers "the best director in the world." In the film, Ryder plays May Welland the fiancée of Newland Archer (Day-Lewis). The film, set in the 1870s, was principally filmed in New York and Paris. Her role in this movie won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress[25]  as well as an Academy Award nomination in the same category. Although not a commercial success, it received critical praise. Vincent Canby in the New York Times wrote; ‘Ms Ryder is wonderful as this sweet young thing who's hard as nails, as much out of ignorance as of self-interest. '

Ryder's next role was in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994), directed by Ben Stiller, where she played a young woman searching for direction in her life. Her performance received acclaim and the studio hoped the film would gross a substantial amount of money, yet it did not make as much money as expected. Bruce Feldman, Universal Pictures' Vice-President of Marketing said: "The media labeled it as a Generation X picture, while we thought it was a comedy with broad appeal."[32]  The studio placed TV ads during programs chosen for their appeal to 12 to 34-year-olds and in interviews Stiller was careful not to mention the phrase "Generation X."

In 1994, Ryder was handpicked to play the lead role of Josephine March in Little Women, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel. The film received widespread praise; critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film was the greatest adaptation of the novel, and remarked on Ryder's performance: "Ms. Ryder, whose banner year also includes a fine comic performance in 'Reality Bites,' plays Jo with spark and confidence. Her spirited presence gives the film an appealing linchpin, and she plays the self-proclaimed 'man of the family' with just the right staunchness."[33]  She received a Best Actress Oscar nomination the following year.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">She made a guest appearance in The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Rival" as Allison Taylor, whose intelligence and over-achieving personality makes her a rival of Lisa's. Her next starring role was in How to Make an American Quilt (1995), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Whitney Otto, co-starring Anne Bancroft. Ryder plays a college graduate who spends her summer hiatus at her grandmother's property to ponder her boyfriend's recent marriage proposal. The film was not a commercial success, nor was it popular with critics.

[edit] 1996–2000
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder made several film appearances in 1996, the first in Boys. The film failed to become a box office success and attracted mostly negative critical reaction. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated that "Boys is a low-rent, dumbed-down version of Before Sunrise, with a rent-a-plot substituting for clever dialogue."Her next role was in Looking for Richard, Al Pacino's documentary on a production of Shakespeare's Richard III, which grossed only $1 million at the box office, but drew moderate critical acclaim. She starred in The Crucible with Daniel Day-Lewis and Joan Allen. The film, an adaptation of Arthur Miller's play, centered on the Salem witch trials. The film was expected to be a success, considering its budget, but became a large failure. Despite this, it received acclaim critically, and Ryder's performance was lauded, with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone saying, "Ryder offers a transfixing portrait of warped innocence."

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In December 1996, Ryder accepted a role as an android in Alien Resurrection (1997), alongside Sigourney Weaver, who had appeared in the entire Alien trilogy. Ryder's brother, Yuri, was a major fan of the film series, and when asked, she took the role. The film became one of the least successful entries in the Alien film series, but was considered a success as it grossed $161 million worldwide. Weaver's and Ryder's performances drew mostly positive reviews, and Ryder won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress. Ryder then starred in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), after Drew Barrymore turned down Ryder's role, in an ensemble cast.The film satirizes the lives of several celebrities.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1999, she performed in and served as an executive producer for Girl, Interrupted, based on the 1993 autobiography of Susanna Kaysen. The film had been in project and post-production since late 1996, but it took time to surface. Ryder was deeply attached to the film, considering it her "child of the heart."Ryder starred as Kaysen, who has borderline personality disorder and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for recovery. Ryder starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Angelina Jolie. While Ryder was expected to make her comeback with her leading role, the film instead became the "welcome-to-Hollywood coronation" for Jolie,who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Jolie thanked Ryder in her acceptance speech. The same year, Ryder was parodied in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The following year, she starred in the melodrama Autumn in New York, alongside Richard Gere. The film revolves around a relationship between an older man (Gere) and a younger woman (Ryder). Autumn in New York received mixed reviews, but was a commercial success, grossing $90 million at the worldwide box office.Ryder then played a nun of a secret society loosely connected to the Roman Catholic Church and determined to prevent Armageddon inLost Souls (2000), which was a commercial failure. Ryder refused to do commercial promotion for the film.Later in 2000, she was one of several celebrities who made a small cameo appearance in Zoolander. On October 6, 2000, Ryder received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located directly in front of the Johnny Grant building next to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. She was the 2,165th recipient of this honor.

[edit] Hiatus, 2001–2005
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder had a hiatus after her shoplifting incident in 2001 (see below). The book Conversations with Woody Allen reports that in 2003 film director Woody Allen wanted to cast [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey,_Jr. Robert Downey, Jr.] and Ryder in his film Melinda and Melinda, but was unable to do so because "I couldn't get insurance on them ... We couldn't get bonded. The completion bonding companies would not bond the picture unless we could insure them. [...] We were heartbroken because I had worked with Winona before [on Celebrity] and thought she was perfect for this and wanted to work with her again."

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2002, Ryder appeared in two movies, filmed before her arrest. The first was a romantic comedy titled Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler. This was her most commercially successful movie to date, earning over $126 million in the United States alone. The film was not a critical success, however; film critic Philip French described it as a terrible film, saying that "remakes are often bad, but this one was particularly bad."The second film was the science fiction drama S1m0ne in which she portrayed a glamorous star who is replaced by a computer simulated actress due to the clandestine machinations of a director, portrayed by her Looking for Richard costar Al Pacino. In July 2003, she was number 183 on VH1's and People Magazine's "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons" countdown list.

[edit] 2006–present
Winona in 2010<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2006, following her hiatus, Ryder appeared in Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, a film based on Philip K. Dick's well-received science fiction novel of the same name. Ryder starred alongsideKeanu Reeves, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey,_Jr. Robert Downey, Jr.], and Woody Harrelson. Live action scenes were transformed with rotoscope software and the film was entirely animated. A Scanner Darkly was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival. Critics disagreed over the film's merits; Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times found the film "engrossing" and wrote that "the brilliance of [the film] is how it suggests, without bombast or fanfare, the ways in which the real world has come to resemble the dark world of comic books." Matthew Turner of View London, believing the film to be "engaging" and "beautifully animated," praised the film for its "superb performances" and original, thought-provoking screenplay. Ryder appeared in the comedyThe Darwin Awards with Joseph Fiennes. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2006.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> Ryder reunited with Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters for the surreal black comedy Sex and Death 101 (2007). The story follows the sexual odysseys of successful businessman Roderick Blank, played by Simon Baker, who receives a mysterious e-mail on the eve of his wedding, listing all of his past and future sex partners. "We will be doing a sequel to Heathers next." Ryder stated. "There's Heathers in the real world! We have to keep going!" I n a more recent interview Ryder was quoted as saying on the speculation of a  Heathers  sequel: "I don't know how much of the movie is official; it's a ways away. But it takes place in Washington and  Christian Slater  agreed to come back and make an  Obi-Wan -type appearance. It's very funny."

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder appeared in David Wain's comedy The Ten. The film centers around ten stories, each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on January 10, 2007,with a theatrical release on August 3, 2007. Ryder played the female lead opposite Wes Bentley and Ray Romano in Geoffrey Haley's 2008 offbeat romantic drama The Last Word. In 2009, she starred as a newscaster in the movie version of The Informers.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder appeared in a cameo role for director J. J. Abrams's Star Trek, as Spock's human mother Amanda Grayson, a role originally played by Jane Wyatt. Several media outlets have noted her return to the box office and upcoming roles as a remarkable comeback.She starred alongside Robin Wright and Julianne Moore in Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, released on February 9, 2009 at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, with a limited US release scheduled for November 2009. On June 2, 2009, Entertainment Weekly reported that in an interview with Ryder in Empire magazine, she revealed that she and Christian Slater will reprise their roles in a sequel to Heathers. In 2010, Ryder played Beth McIntyre, an aging ballet star in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. She also was cast in an independent film, Stay Cool, alongside Hilary Duff, Mark Polish and Chevy Chase. The same year, she also starred as Lois Wilson in the TV movie, When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story for which she has received leading female Screen Actors Guild Award and Satellite Award nominations.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder appeared in a leading role in the Ron Howard-directed film, The Dilemma, previously called Cheaters and What You Don't Know. The film, which also starred Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, began filming in Chicago in May 2010 and was released in January 2011. In 2011, she was cast as the wife of serial killer, Richard Kuklinski in the upcoming thriller, The Iceman.In 2012, Tim Burton cast her as the love interest in The Killers music video, Here with Me. She recently wrapped filming the action thriller, Homefront alongside James Franco. She was reunited with Tim Burton for a role in the animated 3D feature film Frankenweenie, released in October 2012.

Relationships
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Ryder was engaged to actor Johnny Depp for three years beginning in July 1990. She met Depp at the Great Balls of Fire! premiere in June 1989; two months later they began dating.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67" style="line-height:1em;">[67]  During their relationship, Depp had a tattooplaced on his arm reading "Winona Forever", which he had altered to "Wino Forever" after their separation in mid 1993.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68" style="line-height:1em;">[68]  Following her split from Depp, she dated Soul Asylum front man Dave Pirner for three years, from 1993 to 1996. She later had a two-year relationship with actor Matt Damon between 1998 and 2000.