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By Geoff Carter
From the gawky pre-teen in Lucas to the Goth-crazed teenaged Lydia in Beetlejuice to the manipulative and it’s-fun-to-be-bad accessory after the fact in Heathers, Winona Ryder has always—at first because of her age and then in spite of it—exuded an air of innocence tempered by a keen intelligence that always hinted at deeper and more complex interiors. While as a younger actress, Ryder typically exuded an endearing naivete, but her characterizations also radiated a quirky neurotic energy and emotional intensity that often seemed on the verge of bursting from her body.
In the tongue-in-cheek family drama Mermaids, Ryder played Charlotte Flax, a confused teenager obsessed riddled with guilt over her emerging sexuality and who is also deathly embarrassed about her mother’s (Cher) unabashed sensuality. She turns to Catholicism in order to quell her desires but cannot, once she meets the local—and quite handsome handyman, help herself. Ryder’s depiction of Charlotte is a beautifully detailed study of teen angst, guilt, self-loathing, and fear of her sexuality. The intersection of her sexuality and her shield of religious passion is both painful and humorous—in an ironic way—to watch.
Her portrayal of Kim in Edward Scissorhands as a precocious teenager who grows to understand that love is more than sex in a van is simultaneously sympathetic, snotty (as only a teenaged girl can be), and compassionate. Initially repulsed by Edward’s weirdness, she eventually discovers the compassion necessary to understand his inner beauty and goodness. Like most of Ryder’s characters, Kim is intelligent, radiant, and wonderfully transparent. Part of Rider’s charm is her readability; her characters rarely seem able to hide anything.
Even as Veronica in Heathers, who is complicit in the scheme to murder, blackmail, and humiliate her classmates, it’s hard to hold Ryder fault for the mayhem; she is merely caught up in J.D. Dean’s (Christian Bale) insanity. Her inherent morality—even as she plays a killer—shines through. And—of course, she does the right thing in the end.
In her later portion of her career, Ryder has portrayed Spock’s mother in the reimagining of Star Trek, and a distraught mother whose son has been kidnapped into an alternate universe in Stranger Things. While these later performances feature more mature characters, Ryder’s quirky energy and effusiveness still shine through. No matter what her age, her youthful energy and inner beauty seem to be eternal.
Winona Ryder’s Top Ten Films
Edward Scissorhands: In this suburban fantasy, Edward (Johnny Depp) is a humanoid constructed by an amiable inventor who died before completing his creation. As a result, poor Edward has only scissors for hands. Exiled in a lonely castle on a hill overlooking an impossibly pastel suburban neighborhood, Edward is rescued by Peg (Diane Wiest), a kindly Avon lady who takes him to her home. Once there, Edward falls in love with Kim (Winona Ryder), Peg’s daughter, who is repulsed by him until she eventually begins to appreciate his beautiful nature, but their love leads to tragedy. In this performance, Ryder strikes the perfect balance between a selfish teenager and a sensitive young woman who is able to see through Edward’s grotesqueness into his pure heart. Notable for the Ice Dance sequence.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Alan Arkin, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, and Vincent Price. Screenplay by Caroline Thompson. Directed by Tim Burton.
The Age of Innocence: A beautifully wrought romantic period drama based on the book by Edith Wharton. A young lawyer Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis) is engaged to innocent young socialite May Welland (Winona Ryder) but finds himself entranced by the more worldly Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) who is recovering from a failed marriage. Seeking to help redeem the countess’s reputation in society, Newland finds himself disillusioned with the naivete and cluelessness of his fiancée. As the realization of her fiancé’s betrayal strikes her, Rider’s reaction is beautifully wrought. Notable for her Oscar-nominated performance as May Welland.
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer, Geraldine Chaplin, Richard E. Grant, Robert Sean Leonard, and Norman Lloyd. Written by Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese. Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Heathers: In this black comedy, Veronica Sawyer (Rider) is part of elitist clique of high school girls all named Heather. Tired of their cruelty and snottiness, Veronica wants out but is unwilling to compromise her status as a member of the clique. When an outsider J.D. Dean (Christian Bale) comes to the school, he and Veronica team up (and hook up). When queen bee Heather Chandler threatens to ruin Veronica’s reputation, she and J.D. hatch a revenge plot that goes sour, eventually escalating into pure high school mayhem. Rider gives a wonderfully balanced performance as a teen caught between the demands of her friends, her own desires, and the realization that her boyfriend is psychotic. Her relationship with J.D. is part lust, anxiety, fear, and titillation. A great performance.
Starring: Christian Bale, Winona Ryder, Lisanne Falk, Shannon Doherty, Kim Walker, and Penelope Milford. Written by Daniel Waters. Directed by Michael Lehmann.
Girl, Interrupted: In this psychological drama, Ryder plays Susanna, a young woman who is committed to a mental hospital after overdosing. There, she meets an array of other disturbed young women, including a sociopath Lisa (Angelina Jolie), Georgina (Clea DuVall) a pathological liar, and Daisy (Elisabeth Moss) a girl with OCD. Susanna, like the other girls, is entranced by Lisa and follow her as she leads them through the tunnels underneath the hospital, provokes the staff and other patients, and resists any sort of help. After getting into trouble, Lisa eventually persuades Susanna to escape with her to visit the recently released Daisy, whom Lisa teases mercilessly with tragic results. Ryder, as usual, shines as a young woman with exposed vulnerabilities; this, after all, is her bread and butter. In fact, she manages to infuse Susanna with an intrinsic emotional awareness which turns out to be her saving grace.
Starring: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Elisabeth Moss, Chloe DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Jeff Tambor, Jared Leto, and Whoopi Goldberg. Written by James Mangold, Lisa Loomer, and Anna Hamilton Phelan. Directed by James Mangold.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula: In this lush and beautifully wrought reimagination of the horror classic, Ryder plays Mina Murray, not only the primary victim of the notorious vampire, but also the reincarnation of his beloved murdered wife. Dracula (Gary Oldman), while still a ruthless and rapacious vampire, is depicted as a man still pining for his lost love after centuries of losing her, rejecting his God, and becoming a vampire. Ryder brings a quick intelligence and vivaciousness to Mina, an innocent but sexually curious young woman who, despite herself, is smitten by the count and cannot resist her own sexual attraction toward him. Ryder’s performance toes the line between the purity of a young fiancé, the desire of a mature woman, and the conscience torn into piece between them.
Starring: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Tom Waits, Cary Elwes, Sadie Frost, and Richard E. Grant. Screenplay by James V. Hart from the novel by Bram Stoker. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Stranger Things: In this current science-fiction Netflix hit series, a group of four nerdy teens find themselves embroiled in a mystery that involves monsters from an alternate dimension, a government cover-up, and a young girl coerced into using her extrasensory powers to explore the new sinister dimension. As Joyce Byers, mother of Will—who disappears into the upside down (the alternate dimension)—Ryder plays a divorcee scraping by with a dead-end job until her son disappears. Convinced—sensing—he is nearby, Joyce frantically clutches at any straw to communicate with him, including hanging a string of Christmas lights on the wall. Ryder portrays Joyce with a quirky nervous anxiety and the unremitting ferocity of a mother cub protecting her cub. Ryder starts Joyce off as a little neurotic, but soon morphs her into a crazy—but completely sympathetic—character.
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin. Written and directed by The Duffer Brothers.
Beetlejuice: In her first major film, Rider plays Lydia, a disaffected 14-year-old with a serious Goth fashion sense. When she and her parents move into a house haunted by two amiable ghosts, the Maitlands (Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis). Lydia discovers she is the only person who can see the two spooks. Frustrated with her existence, she sees the afterlife as a preferable alternative to her useless and boring existence. When Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a malignant spirit, enters the picture, Lydia finds she has to make a life-changing decision in order to save the Maitlands. Rider’s performance as the supposedly angst-filled teen is both touching and hilarious, while her scenes with Keaton and her parents are wonderfully calibrated.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Geen Davis, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones, Robert Goulet, and Catherine O’Hara. Written and directed by Tim Burton.
Mermaids: In this family drama, Charlotte Flax (Ryder) is daughter to Rachel (Cher), an irreverent free spirit who moves Charlotte and her sister Kate (Christine Ricci) every time she breaks up with a boyfriend. After her most recent split, Rachel brings the girls to a small Massachusetts town where Charlotte, who is wracked with guilt and obsessed with Catholicism, is attracted to Joe (Michael Schoeffling), the caretaker of the local convent. Torn between her attraction for joe and the guilt she feels over her “sinful” behavior, Charlotte first goes on a hunger strike to punish herself but then—in a fit of passion—turns herself over to Joe. Rider takes her angst-filled self-deprecating teen persona to a new level here, bringing a deftly subtle comic edge to what could be a very ordinary story.
Starring: Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, Michael Schoeffling, and Caroline Williams. Written by June Roberts. Directed by Richard Benjamin.
Little Women: In this remake (not the most recent one) of the literary classsic, Rider turns in a stellar performance as Jo March, the oldest and most fiercely independent of the March girls. Jo had been played in previous productions by the likes of Katherine Hepburn, June Allyson, and—most lately—Saoirse Ronan. While each displayed their singular strengths in these roles, Ryder captured the vitality and intensity of Jo most beautifully, bringing her quirky energy and spontaneous warmth to the character. Her performance ranks among the best in this elite group, especially while playing off Gabriel Byrne and Christian Bale or participating in the frenetic dynamic of a the chaotic March household.
Starring: Winona Ryder, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes, Samantha Mathis, Christian Bale, and Gabriel Byrne. Screenplay by Robin Swicord from the novel by Louisa May Alcott. Directed by Gillian Armstrong.
The Crucible: In this latest production of award-winning Arthur Miller play, Rider plays Abigail, whose vindicative jealousy nearly destroyed an entire community. At the beginning, a group of girls is caught naked in the woods performing dark rituals. One of the girls goes into a coma, prompting the community leaders to suspect witchcraft. To save herself, Abigail accuses Tituba of witchcraft. After she confesses and is found guilty, Abigail and the girls go on a sort of surrealistic rampage, accusing other women in Salem. John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), a respectable farmer who has broken off an affair with Abigail, finds his wife Elizabeth (Joan Allen) and then himself accused. As Abigail, Rider plumbs the depths of a young girl’s wrath as she shrewdly uses the town’s fears to punish the man she loves. It is a gripping and harrowing performance.
Starring; Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Joan Allen, Paul Scofield, Bruce Davison, Rob Campbell, and Jeffrey Jones. Written by Arthur Miller. Directed by Nicholas Hytner.