‘Stranger Things’ Casts Winona Ryder In A Dark Thriller [Video]
Winona Ryder hasn’t done much television in her career, so when she does take on a role in a small screen project, it’s certain to be something remarkable, and that seems to be just the case with Stranger Things. The series, produced and distributed by Netflix, will showcase Ryder in the role of a distraught mother desperate to find her missing son. Stranger Things will be a limited series with a planned eight episodes to be released together on July 15.
Stranger Things Brings Winona Ryder Face To Face With Government Conspiracies And Supernatural Threats
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As the trailer for Stranger Things starts out, we meet Winona Ryder’s character, Joyce, as she tries to compel a lackadaisical police chief (David Harbour) to investigate the disappearance of her son. Echoing the sentiments of officers in big cities and small towns alike, the chief lists all the reasons why the case presented by Ryder’s character shouldn’t be of immediate concern.
“Want to know the worst thing that’s ever happened here in the four years since I’ve been working here? It’s when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie’s head because it thought that her hair was a nest,” the police chief says in the opening sequence for this Stranger Things trailer.
Seeing that his small town spiel isn’t allaying Joyce’s concerns, the police chief switches tactics and attempts to convince Ryder’s Stranger Things character that her son is possibly safe with another loved one. It seems as though the chief would rather do just about anything, other than look for this one woman’s missing son.
“Ninety-nine out of 100 times a kid goes missing, the kid is with a parent or relative” David Harbour’s character tells Ryder in the Stranger Things trailer.
Joyce isn’t having it, however. She knows her son and she knows her family.
“Well, what about the other time? You said 99 out of 100. What about the other time? The one?”
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After some convincing, the chief launches an investigation, and it seems that the entire town joins in the search for Joyce’s son, but they’re not alone. Government officials wearing hazmat suits comb the area woods in this first glimpse of Stranger Things, much like scenes from Stephen Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and it becomes readily apparent that their motives are distinctly different from those of Joyce and the townsfolk.
Adding intrigue, segments reveal flashing lights, blackouts, and bizarre electrical anomalies, the types of things most horror fans know to associate with otherworldly visits. It seems Stranger Things may bring a deeper, darker look at what may happen when a young boy makes contact with an alien species, and the results may leave the people of Hawkins wondering whom to fear more, the aliens or the government.
Stranger Things Star Winona Ryder Reveals Why She Was Drawn To This Small Screen Limited Event
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One thing that may not be readily apparent to viewers, as the Stranger Things trailer plays out, is that the eight episode Netflix event takes place decades earlier in the 80s. In fact, Netflix released a press statement in which Stranger Things was described as a “love letter to the ubiquitous cult classics” of the 80s. That, as well as the haunting subject matter of the show’s plot, is what drew Ms. Ryder to take on the Stranger Things role.
“I think the audience will love the nostalgic voyage back in time before technology had completely took over,” Winona said of the ’80s time period. “Kids were asked to put their toys away at dinner – not their phones. Yet, there were astronauts going to space, and government conspiracies loomed. It was just such a different world back then.”
While the era may be familiar to Winona, as well as to many viewers, Ms. Ryder reveals the genre under which Stranger Things falls is something she has never before explored as an actress. Ryder adds that starring in a supernatural thriller like Stranger Things was something she felt compelled to do in the interest of expanding her experiences as an actress.
“It’s all about trying something new,” 44-year-old Ryder says. “This is a genre that I enjoy watching, but haven’t necessarily explored before, which drew me to the project.”
[Image by Netflix]
