Winona Ryder Served as 1980s Fact Checker on Set of STRANGER THINGS as Well as Mentor to the Teen Actors
Winona Ryder has had an expansive career that has spanned the decades, starting in the ‘80s with the classic movies Lucas, Beetlejuice, and Heathers, then moving into the 90s when she made Edward Scissorhands, Reality Bites, and Girl, Interrupted.
The ‘90s were also when she got her two Academy Award nominations for The Age of Innocence and Little Women. She went on to play so many more memorable roles, but her time as a teen actor who came of age during the 80s is what has helped her and her cast-mates most in her most recent iconic role of Joyce Byers in the hit series Stranger Things.
In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar (via IndieWire), Ryder’s co-star and friend, David Harbour, who plays Hopper, said of her behind the scenes knowledge:
“She’d tell them [The Duffer Bros.], ‘This song actually came out in ’85, and you have it in ’83,’ She knew all of these minute, tiny details they didn’t even know, and they had to change things in the script based on that…It’s just kind of epic how wild her mind is and how it goes to all these different corners.”
Ryder then talked about how she could relate to the kids, whose careers took off at such a young age:
“I want the kids to understand, this does not happen. This is really unusual. And I’m always telling them, ‘The work is the reward!’ Because when I was that age, it was so hard to enjoy the fruits of my labor. This business is brutal. You’re working constantly, but if you want to take a break, they tell you, ‘If you slow down, it’s going to stop.’ And then it did slow down. So then you’re hearing, ‘It’s going to be impossible to come back.’ And then that changes to, ‘You’re not even part of the conversation.’ Like, it was brutal.”
According to Ross Duffer, Ryder’s mentorship has been essential for the show’s breakout teen Millie Bobby Brown. He explained:
“[Winona has] talked to the kids about what celebrity is like and how the press can be and the anxiety and confusion that comes along with celebrity. I think she’s really helped them. I know she’s specifically helped Millie [Bobby Brown] a lot to work through that. And that’s something that no one else can help with, really, because so few people have experienced it. It’s not something I understand. It’s not something that, you know, even a parent would understand.”
Ryder just seems like such an asset and all-around great person to have around. I hope she’s one of the ones that makes it out alive in Season 4 part 2 of Stranger Things, available now on Netflix.
via: Variety
