Winona Ryder Quotes
Actress
For a long time, I was almost ashamed of being an actress. I felt like it was a shallow occupation. People would be watching my every move.
I have this sense that I didn't really start growing up until my twenties.
I feel my best when I'm happy.
I would have to say 'The Crucible' stands out because it was one of the best experiences I've ever had, but, you know, Arthur Miller being present on the set - which was wonderful and incredible - but, to have him in your eye line is quite intimidating. It's such a beautiful language he created, so that was challenging but exciting.
You go through spells where you feel that maybe you're too sensitive for this world. I certainly felt that.
I don't use the Internet, but apparently you can find out everything on it.
You've got to grow up sometime.
What you wear - and it always starts with your shoes - determines what kind of character you are. A woman who wears high heels carries herself very different to a girl who wears sneakers or sandals. It really helps determine how you carry yourself.
It's an indication of how cynical our society has become that any kind of love story with a sad theme is automatically ridiculed as sentimental junk.
When you finally accept that it's OK not to have answers and it's OK not to be perfect, you realize that feeling confused is a normal part of what it is to be a human being.
I think I'm learning to be bolder in my career choices and be more confident in my personal life. I haven't always felt very secure as an individual, but now I feel I certain confidence and sense of self that gets me through the day a lot better than before.
Remember, I'm the kind of kid who used to get stuffed into a locker by school bullies. I've never felt like I'm a big star at any level of my life.
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.
You can't pay enough money to... cure that feeling of being broken and confused.
Money doesn't matter on a deeply personal level. It doesn't make you feel any happier. But of course I am very aware that I don't have to worry about earning a living or about those very important practical things that most people have to worry about on a very real level.
I'm not into older guys. To tell you the truth, Richard Gere is not the sexiest man alive, in my book.
I remember when I was about 18, Sean Penn made a bet with me. He had just directed his first movie, and he's like, 'By the time you're 30, I will bet you $500 that you'll be sick of acting.' I'm still waiting to collect, because I'm not.
I've learned that it's OK to be flawed.
If I showed you scripts from my first few movies, the descriptions of my characters all said 'the ugly girl'.
It's all about knowing when to listen to that conversation and - without sounding really hokey - when to tune it out and follow your heart.
People think that they just want movies like Pretty Woman, when really they - at least the ones that I know personally - have been waiting for something that doesn't completely insult them.
There was a time when all that mattered was that you were in a good movie.
It's like, sometimes I'll watch a movie, and it's got some big star in it playing a working-class person, and the character is in a grocery store, and you can kind of tell, from just watching the scene, that this actor doesn't do their own shopping. So you have to have some sense of reality.
I love photography and first editions. I have that in my genes. My father was an archivist.
The Duffers can be super articulate or very straight to the point. I was really impressed with how they were with each other.
Apparently, Bette Davis and a lot of actresses had a hard time in their 30s, too.
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.
I was very depressed after breaking off my engagement with Johnny ten years ago. I was embarrassingly dramatic at the time, but you have to remember I was only 19 years old.
That's an aspect of this business which can be very frustrating and aggravating. Most of what is written about you is wrong and so much of what does get printed is often about personal things that you don't want to have other people read about.
Weird people follow you in the streets, you can't sit alone in a restaurant or a cafe and read a book in peace, and I think everybody values those moments of being alone.
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 wanted to be just a normal girl flirting with a normal guy. It's like, you meet people, and they know this stuff about you. It's why you want to meet somebody who's in the same business, only because they understand more. But you don't necessarily want to be with another actor.
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.
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.
I'd rather never have been married than been divorced a few times. Not that there's anything wrong with divorce, but I don't think I could do it if that was a possibility.
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 have my email on my Blackberry, and that's about it.
I'm just coming from a more personal - and, I guess, more nostalgic - point of view.
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.
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.
There was a time when I was 19 when I really, really, really thought I was going crazy. I was exhausted and going through a terrible depression.
I feel like I had to learn how to take care of myself and find out what made me happy aside from just making films.
It's also a question of finding good material and interesting roles. I'm not the only actress out there, and good parts just don't fall into your lap that easily. But I like most of the films I've made recently and so I'm pretty positive about the future.
I'm getting asked a lot, 'You don't have kids, so how do you know how to act like a mother?' I know nothing could compare, and I haven't had that experience, but when my niece was born, I felt like I would jump in front of a car and die for this little person I didn't even know yet.
I don't believe I am influencing anybody but myself.
You try to get out there and live. I've always had good friends who've been very supportive and help make me feel good and grounded because I've never felt attached to the film industry.
I'm part of the crew obsessed with 'The Wire.' Like, I'm not over that yet.
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 did this little movie I really love called 'Experimenter,' but that took six years to get made and no money.
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 love westerns. John Ford is one of the 10 best directors.
I love books and going to bookstores. My favorite sound is the sound of the needle hitting the record.
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.
I'm not into wrinkles.
I don't hang out with agents and producers and I'm not into the business side at all.
Break-ups are hard for anybody, but it's particularly tough when it's being documented and you see the person's picture everywhere. Most people don't have that added problem when they break up with someone.
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?
My dad took me to all the best rock and punk shows when I was growing up and music has always been a part of my life. So I'm very interested in the music scene and I suppose that's why I've ended up going out with musicians. Dave Pirner is still one of my best friends.
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.
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.
My parents are awesome, but they're pretty left-wing.
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.'
I was very lucky because Tim Burton really gave me a career. I don't think Hollywood would've known what to do with me. If I hadn't done 'Beetlejuice,' I think I would've just gone back to my school.
I think it's important to have as much as a normal life and take the time to get perspective because it only helps your work in the long run.
I was inspired by lots of people, certainly in acting and in writing and stuff, but I never wanted to be somebody else.
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 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.
Life's short, so if you're going to spend months doing something, it's gotta be pretty special... But I'm very happy to enter my Baby Jane years, and hopefully segue into the Ruth Gordon years.
I'm not interested in playing the girl that's just there to make the guy, you know, give him a talking to.
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'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.
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 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.
When your parents are madly in love for 45 years, your standards are really high.
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.
The older you get, the more yourself you can be and the less worried you are about what other people think.
I love getting older. I think it has to do with always being the kid on set.
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 would love to someday do a play. I did one when I was very young in San Francisco, where I grew up. A girl can dream.
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.
I was watching TV, and there was this oldies-but-goodies film fest, and 'Lucas' came on. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm an oldie!'
I wish I could unknow this, but there is a perception of me that I'm super-sensitive and fragile. And I am super-sensitive, and I don't think that that's a bad thing. To do what I do, I have to remain open.
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.
When I'm acting well, it's the most exhilarating experience. When I'm bad, it's miserable.
I get sent a lot of scripts where you're just the mom.
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.
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 love watching old movies, and I read a lot of autobiographies.
I'm used to being told what to say, but not what to think... that's usually left up to me.
It's great concentrating so hard you feel your brain will explode.
I would not want to go back to playing the ingenue.
On the set for 'Beetlejuice,' it was before people would go watch on monitors, and directors would be next to the camera.
I did 'Beetlejuice,' and it was a big movie, but it didn't help my high-school experience. In fact, it made it worse. I was a freak and a witch.
I've always been super-private and protective of certain experiences and certain friends.
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.
My home is San Francisco - that is definitely what I consider my home.
I can see it in even great actors' performances, when they're phoning it in.
I'm not someone like Norma Desmond who's harking back to her younger days.
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.
One of my worst fears is being a self-indulgent person.