Winona Ryder On Filming ‘Stranger Things’ For Netflix: ‘I’m Just A Wreck’


The new Netflix drama Stranger Things has already been described as something that might be seen from a collaboration between Stephen King and Steven Spielberg and the new trailer for the sci-fi series only reinforces that idea.

For Stranger Things star Winona Ryder, there’s as much drama in the series as there is action and intrigue, so it’s not surprising that a new interview had Ryder opening up about how experiencing such a wild roller coaster ride of emotions helped her understand her character.

Netflix Drops A Spooky New Trailer For Stranger Things

Stranger Things takes place in the 80s, so along with a creepy theme that infuses equal parts of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, audiences can also expect a heavy dose of nostalgia, which may be just as appealing as the sci-fi aspects of the series. As What Culture reports, Winona Ryder plays the distraught mother of a teen boy who goes missing. After much persuading, Ryder’s character convinces the local lawman, played by David Harbour (The Equalizer, End of Watch), to launch a search for the boy.

Among those looking for Winona’s Stranger Things son are the boys friends, but it isn’t long before the group of friends stumble on to unexpected conspiracies that involve extraterrestrials, clandestine government agents, and a powerful girl. Even these early teasers suggest a bigger mystery than that of what has happened to Ryder’s fictional son and, whether or not the boy is ever found, it seems as though Stranger Things will be compelling enough to draw audiences for future seasons.

Winona Ryder Opens Up About The Emotional Turmoil Of Acting In Stranger Things

According to an interview Winona Ryder did with Time, Stranger Things was the stars first experience as a television series lead and the actress reveals that she was unprepared for the required array of emotions that acting in a series would require. The Stranger Things actress says she can’t just fake it, as is the case with other performers, so she really has to become invested in her character’s story. Ryder says she has to genuinely feel the emotions, which can be a bit troublesome on a long-running series.

“The first episodes, I’m just a wreck. And I’m sort of old school in my approach to acting. Like, if I have to cry, I have to really cry,” Ms. Ryder says. “I’m allergic to this thing they use [to help actors cry] if you literally run out of tears….I really have to go there mentally. Usually on a film there’s a couple of scenes, but this was my first time doing eight episodes of something, and let me tell you, crying all day—wow.”

Speaking of sharing her feelings, Winona admits that she also feels the nostalgia brought about by the story in Stranger Things. She says people have been asking her if nostalgia is “a thing now” and Ryder replies that it absolutely is a thing for her, especially with Stranger Things taking place in 1983. Winona says that year in particular produces strong memories for her and she blames it all on Ronald Reagan’s decision to make ketchup a vegetable.

“I remember being in school when Reagan made ketchup a vegetable, because you would get the tater tots and the fish sticks, and then ketchup as your vegetable,” says the Stranger Things star. “And there was obviously corruption and government conspiracies going on, which I’m a believer in, I guess you could say.”

Ms. Ryder admits that Stranger Things casts her in a very different type of role than the characters she has played throughout her career and she confesses that she might not have taken the role, if the plot had dealt with the darker sides of life, such as pedophiles and serial killers. She says she does like to watch those films, mentioning the shows The Fall and The Killing specifically, but the Stranger Things actress says she feels unable to act in those kinds of dramas.

Winona adds that she likes the way in which Stranger Things pays homage to the sci-fi films of the early 80s and particularly to Steven Spielberg films.

Stranger Things premieres on Netflix on Friday, July 15.

[Image by Netflix]

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