Winona Ryder wanted to be just a normal girl, flirting with a normal guy. Instead, she became an iconic star, whom “weird people follow” on the street and who “can’t sit alone in a restaurant or a café and read a book in peace”. In her long acting career, Ryder has accumulated a huge cache of experiences and in interviews she has talked about them freely, acknowledging that she has been blessed with good and supportive friends. Let us now take a look at some of her notable quotes, in which she has not only talked about her life; but also on various subjects like finding good roles, her love for books, marriage and divorce, motherhood, aging and dressing.
I want to be a good friend, a good sister, a good person and a good actress.
Winona Ryder
I was unusual looking - I didn't have the look of that time. If you look at 'Lucas' - and, basically, my first five or six movies - the characters are not described in the scripts as attractive people.
My problems seemed so glamorous to other people, and everyone just thought I was so lucky. But then, I was lucky because my family was really there for me - San Francisco was a real refuge.
I approached work very seriously. I never went out. I couldn't fathom people who could go out to clubs... I mean, if I had a 6 A.M. call, I had to be prepared. I had to be in bed at a certain hour.
Winona Ryder
Even though I never really had to pound the pavement as an actor, I always worked really hard. But, at the same time, I always felt like people thought that I didn't have to struggle even though I was struggling.
My favourite performances are by actresses like Bette Davis in 'All About Eve' or Gena Rowlands in pretty much anything - performances that have nothing to do with age.
Winona Ryder
It was hard to find that transition to adult roles.
Winona Ryder
There are certain directors who will start talking to you about something, and suddenly you'll be ready to roll, and you'll realize it was very specific.
I binge-watched this show 'Damages.' Glenn Close and Rose Byrne are so good. Lily Tomlin is in it. You see all these great actors, and the writing is terrific. There are a lot of shows like that.
I just did what I found interesting. I was so lucky that I was able to do that, especially in the '90s. I was really able to have a life to go back to.
It's interesting because, even with 'Beetlejuice,' I was an awkward kid. I started at puberty and went through it on film. Lydia was one of my favorite roles because I related to her a lot.
Winona Ryder
On the set for 'Beetlejuice,' it was before people would go watch on monitors, and directors would be next to the camera.
Winona Ryder
With 'Ed Wood,' I sobbed. With 'Frankenweenie,' I was crying. With 'Edward Scissorhands,' I always cry. There's always an incredible amount of purity, even if they look a certain way.
Winona Ryder
I can see it in even great actors' performances, when they're phoning it in.
Winona Ryder
There's a couple of times that I did it for the... paycheck. Even when I was younger - I remember I did this movie that wasn't good, called '1969.' I totally did it 'cause I could get out of school.
Winona Ryder
I have my email on my Blackberry, and that's about it.
Winona Ryder
It's great concentrating so hard you feel your brain will explode.
When I was young, I was the sweetheart of the press. They loved me but were kind of waiting for me to mess up. I had no skeletons in my closet, no major past to talk about.
I'm so sick of people shaming women for being sensitive or vulnerable. It's so bizarre to me... I do have those qualities, and I just don't think there's anything wrong with them.
I was fired from a movie because I did 'Heathers!' I was cast in a movie, and the director saw an advance screening and was offended by it and fired me.
It used to be that you commit to something, and then basically you spend your year doing that. Now there's a constant conversation of how you have to keep working in order to remind people that you're around.
You have to work to be relevant. If you don't, then people will forget, and the studios won't want you because they won't remember the last thing you did that made money.
I was single for a while and dating and... I just didn't know how to do it! I've always been like that: when I was 15, there was a guy I liked, and we made out, and I thought that meant he was my boyfriend.
Winona Ryder
Googling yourself is maybe one of the worst things you can do. I did it once, and someone had to talk me off a ledge.
I am not a person who can really sit around and think about regrets because with every bad experience that you have, there is weirdly something good that comes from it.
I'm the type who'd rather not work than work on something I'm not into. I've done that a couple of times, and I feel like I can totally see it in my performance.
Winona Ryder
It's equally as important to me to be a good friend and a good sister and a good daughter. I'm very close with my family and friends.
I've loved making movies. I feel like I've been so lucky because I've gotten to be in movies that are some of my favorites, regardless of my being in them - like 'Heathers.'
Winona Ryder
I'm not interested in playing the girl that's just there to make the guy, you know, give him a talking to.
Even though 'Heathers' didn't make a lot of money, I really was able to transition into a situation where people thought I could play an attractive role because of it.
I loved movies, but I can't remember ever really wanting to be an actress, and I certainly didn't imagine ever being in a movie. I think I wanted to be a writer.
I've learned that it's OK to be flawed, that life can be messy, that some days you glide and some days you fall, but most important, that there are no secret answers out there.
Winona Ryder
I think I really scored with my parents. All of my friends pretty much came from broken homes, and my parents are still together, but not only that, they're still in love and still write together.
A woman who wears high heels is very different, I think, than a woman who wears sandals.
Winona Ryder
What's awful about being famous and being an actress is when people come up to you and touch you. That's scary, and they just seem to think it's okay to do it, like you're public property.
You can't pay enough money to... cure that feeling of being broken and confused.
Winona Ryder
My father is an atheist. My mother is Buddhist. They encouraged my siblings and me to take the best part of other religions to make our own belief system.
I'm quite comfortable looking at myself in movies, probably because I've been doing it for so long, since I was a kid. So I sort of watched myself grow up and go through adolescence, like, basically on camera.
Winona Ryder
I thought it was a cool parallel. Being replaced by the young thing. I know that definitely happens in Hollywood. It's harder to find good roles, and suddenly there's new girls. I'm at that age I've been warned my whole life about.
Winona Ryder
As an actress, you want to try new things. You don't want to repeat yourself. That becomes more important to you, as you get older.
It's really good to be able to think about past loves without having a pit in my stomach, or cringing or feeling heart-broken, or like they hate you. Don't you think?
I remember the whole thing with the word ambition. I was messed up for a while because I associated it with certain people who just want to be famous. I think, for a while, it was kind of a dirty word for women.
Winona Ryder
It's just people should realize that the celebrity aspect of being an actor is very rarely enjoyable for people like me who would always rather go unnoticed and disappear into the crowd.
As an actress, you go where the stories are. I don't really care where it's seen, at this point. I just want to tell good stories and do good roles that I haven't done before.
Winona Ryder
It's part of the celebrity process but my life has never been as interesting or as wild as what's been printed about me.
I'm quite comfortable looking at myself in movies, probably because I've been doing it for so long, since I was a kid. So I sort of watched myself grow up and go through adolescence, like, basically on camera.
Winona Ryder
But I've always felt a need to have a life which is completely separate - at least as far as possible - from the kind of illusory lifestyle that comes with being a celebrity.
I'm the type who'd rather not work than work on something I'm not into. I've done that a couple of times, and I feel like I can totally see it in my performance.
Winona Ryder
I don't hang out with agents and producers and I'm not into the business side at all.
What's awful about being famous and being an actress is when people come up to you and touch you. That's scary, and they just seem to think it's okay to do it, like you're public property.
Winona Ryder
I was regarded as the school freak which further reinforced a lot of inhibitions and doubts I had about myself. I was a shy, frightened teenager for a long time.
I'm too young to play lawyers. But I've been really lucky because I never got labeled. I never did the John Hughes thing. I did adult movies. I'm not bragging or anything, but I think that I've chosen really good roles. I've played different people and showed that I have a little bit of range.
Winona Ryder
Somehow I was invited to visit with Audrey Hepburn. I had this afternoon with her, and she gave me a couple things. She was so gracious and everything you would think that she would be.
Winona Ryder
The description of my character in the first few movies I did was always 'nerdy,' but I liked that; it was way more interesting.
