This was a cool interview I just read with this former child star. When I was growing up, I actually found her annoying — beautiful but clueless about her privilege, not quite truthful in her acting. I may have been more critical because she was personally into alternative culture, considered my turf (by me) in high school. I think in the 90s, she briefly dated Beck, which enraged my friend Alex, the way the fact Gwyneth Paltrow speaks flawless Spanish pisses my friend Becca off. It is like a really specific annoying.
But in this interview, after all of Winona Ryder’s troubles (a long break from acting and the fame scene, after caught shoplifting with a lot of prescription drugs on her), she is slowly breaking into acting again and there is something very humble about her presence (I don’t know if it’s reflected in her acting), more mature, so I find her very appealing in this interview. Plus, she is sooooo of a certain era. She says her hero was Maude in “Harold and Maude.” How long has it been since you heard that title? She seems like she’s in this retro bubble. I thought the whole business side was fascinating. When she was a kid, she was considered ugly by Hollywood standards and was regularly told by casting directors to quit, because she was far too ugly. She credits her parents and Tim Burton for these kinds of comments to just roll off and not crush her ego.