Winona Ryder: A narrative on wanting to break out of moulds

Here’s looking back at the actress’ journey as a performer and artist, despite the multiple odds stacked against her.

American actress Winona Ryder rose to fame by playing the role of the quintessential naive teenager in critically acclaimed films like Heathers (1989), Beetlejuice (1988), and Reality Bites (1994). She was one of the most popular young actors back in the late 80s and found her niche by playing characters who were overly self-conscious.

Ryder won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards for Little Women (1994) and The Age of Innocence (1993). But soon after the massive success, her acting career took a nosedive, and she disappeared from the spotlight.

In 1999, Ryder publicly opened up about dealing with anxiety and depression. Not long after, she got arrested for shoplifting in December of 2001. The incident would tarnish her public image and prevent her from landing any substantial roles in upcoming films. She was also found with numerous prescription drugs during this controversial period of her life. Ryder temporarily gave up acting and went into self-imposed isolation because of the intense public scrutiny that followed.

The stigma around battling mental health disorders meant that she developed an unfair reputation for being “crazy”. But despite the onslaught of the negative and speculative press, Ryder never really vanished. Slowly rebuilding her reputation as a prominent actress, Ryder earned praise from critics for her prominent roles in films like Black Swan (2010), The Dilemma (2011), and The Iceman (2012). She made at least one movie every year between 2006 to 2013, topping the list with her superb outing in Homefront (2013).

In 2016, Ryder found her first major “comeback” success with the popular Netflix series Stranger Things. After the show’s initial run, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Joyce Byers, a single mother of two, whose youngest son mysteriously disappears into the “Upside Down”. Fans eagerly awaited the return of subsequent seasons to watch the unforgettable chemistry between Byers and police chief Jim Hopper as they navigated through the supernatural mayhem.

After her role in Stranger Things Ryder opened up about her early life. She revealed that she had been bullied as a child and had fervently hoped that becoming a renowned actor would make her life at school easier. Instead, it made it worse. Apart from the horrific bullying, Ryder's childhood was fairly positive and full of love. She was born in 1971 in a farmhouse near Winona, Minnesota, as Winona Laura Horowitz. Her parents were two modest writers who were initially wary about acting as a profession. They insisted that she could only pursue the hobby as long as she performed well academically.

For almost a decade, Ryder was missing from the screen, partly because the filmmakers could not figure out how to use this former iconic teen who was on the wrong side of her 30s. But in recent times, Hollywood has been besotted with a sense of nostalgia. Sequels and reboots that bring back memories of a bygone era are being proliferated into popular culture regularly. And frankly, nobody evokes the past quite like Winona Ryder. In 2018, Ryder and her old Dracula co-star Keanu Reeves reunited for the rom-com Destination Wedding. The sour comedy follows two wedding guests who develop a mutual affection for each other despite the initial cheerlessness and hate for each other and everyone around them.

Ryder has always stood up for removing the stigma around mental health. She has been vocal about her sufferings at the risk of being perceived as an oddball or ‘unconventional’. She gave a strong performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) a movie based on the account of a woman staying in a mental institution for 18 months. Even during her rough patches, it seems like Ryder never lost her passion for acting, and her commitment to the art is finally bearing fruit.

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