Winona Ryderreflects on some of the challenging moments in her career during a recent interview withEsquire. During the candid talk with the publication, TheBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceactress opened up about howHarvey Weinsteinimpacted her work and how she was sexually harassed as a young actress in Hollywood. While Weinstein, who headed Miramax from its 1979 creation to 2005 alongside his brother, is now serving prison time for multiple counts of sexual assault, including rape,Ryder’s interactions with the disgraced producer were negative for other reasons.
“The one time I was supposed to have a meeting with [Harvey Weinstein], I went to the Miramax office and I extended my hand and he shook my hand and I sat on the couch and we had a conversation and I left. And [afterwards] I got like screamed at [by an agent]. ‘What the f— did you do?’ I was like, ‘What?’ Apparently, I offended him because I extended my hand?”
Before that, there was an incident when Ryder starred in Miramax’sThe House of Spirits. Weinstein went to Ryder’s trailer and said he wanted her to appear in a film adaptation ofLittle Voicehe was producing. Ryder told Weinstein that she had watched the play in London and should cast the actress in the production. Weinstein’s reaction? “…he got very weird and he left.”
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Ryder believes Weinstein did not like her, thinking she “knew a little bit too much.” Despite a thriving career that kicked off with the success of Tim Burton’sBeetlejuiceand went on to includeHeathers, Edward Scissorhands, Mermaids, Bram Stoker’s Dracula,Little Women, Reality Bites, and The Age of Innocence(which earned her an Academy Award nomination),Ryder hit a professional road bump in 2001. She attributes this to Miramax ostracizing her.
Winona Ryder Recalls Blatant Sexual Harassment
In her discussion with Esquire, Ryder also shared that she had several difficult experiences during her late twenties when a couple of people were “just blatantly sexually harassing” her. Ryder made it clear that she understood the gravity of these occurrences, emphasizing the creepy, inappropriate nature of her experiences.
“And then it happened again in my thirties. It wasn’t an assault. But it was incredibly inappropriate. It was wild. I really understand [what the victims of Weinstein and others went through]. I was lucky because I was known, so it didn’t happen as much as maybe it would if I had been a struggling actor. But I remember this feeling in your mind: you’re negotiating, you’re thinking about what’s going to happen if you say something. You’re working it out while this person is being extremely creepy.”
Ryder discussed the occurrences with herBeetlejuice Beetlejuice co-starJenna Ortega, and as she “was saying it, [she] was like, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s really f****d up.'” The highly-anticipatedBeetlejuice Beetlejuicetakes Ryder back to the character that made her famous. Ryder was 15 when she filmed the original 1988 film, and recalls her similarities to the iconic Lydia Deetz:
“I was very much like Lydia. They didn’t have to do much with me. My brother found a picture of me taken like a month before that audition. I’d dyed my hair blue-black, I had these crazy short bangs, and I dressed in black.”
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, starring Ryder, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, and Ortega, hits theaters on September 6. The film opened the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 28 andreceived a standing ovation.
