The young Winona Ryder

The teenager who came from Minnesota

Winona Ryder was born as Winona Laura Horowitz in 1971, in a Minnesota cabin. Yes, just as it sounds: hippies, books, isolation. Ideal for developing an intense gaze and natural dark circles.

From voracious reader to precocious actress

By age 13, she was already reading Salinger and practicing characters in the mirror. At 15, she made her debut in 'Lucas' (1986), where Hollywood took notice: an adorable outsider was born.

'Beetlejuice' catapulted her into weirdness

In 1988, with 'Beetlejuice', she was officially declared 'weird' by the establishment. Black hair, black clothes, penetrating look. And that was before Tim Burton became a franchise.

'Heathers': The queen of bad influences

With 'Heathers' (1989), she became the sociopath every girl wanted to be. Sarcastic, nihilistic, with lethal one-liners. Teen cinema was never the same again. Thanks, Veronica.

Johnny Depp, the tattoo, and the drama

Her romance with Johnny Depp was the reality before reality TV. He tattooed 'Winona Forever'. Later, he shortened it to 'Wino Forever'. Hollywood learned the hard way that forever love does not exist.

The indie girl who conquered the mainstream

Movies like 'Edward Scissorhands', ‘Mermaids', and 'Dracula' put her on every cover. She was effortlessly cool, something that drove other actresses who tried hard crazy.

A Jane Austen with Doc Martens

In 'Little Women', she was Jo March, the feminist with a literary soul. Hollywood struggled to accept that someone could be magnetic and read actual books. Winona did it.

Between reality and a nineties myth

The tabloids loved her. Pale, thin, talented, with depressed boyfriends and flannel shirts. She was the epitome of the decade. She wasn't acting: she lived in a perpetual cinematic shot.

Winona and the not so minor theft

In 2001 she was arrested for shoplifting at 'Saks Fifth Avenue'. Almost a thousand dollars in clothes. No one understood why. She said: "I felt lost". The internet said: absolute icon.

From scandal to temporary retirement

After the scandal, she disappeared from the map. No one knew if she was reflecting or meditating in a forest. Hollywood replaced her with uncharismatic actresses but with ruthless agents.

The resurrection: 'Stranger Things'

She returned in 2016 as the most distressed mother in the world in 'Stranger Things'. Her face was the same. Her intensity too. Internet: "The millennial mom is back!"

Always more than just a pretty face

The irony: Hollywood hired her for her melancholic face, but Winona also produced, read scripts, talked about politics, and gave interviews with quotes from Sylvia Plath. Too much for the nineties.

Winona vs. the star system

She never let herself be tamed. Not by studios, not by stylists, not even by the police. Winona was the star who didn't want to be one and thereby became one more than anyone else.