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Winona Ryder
Acting
Biography
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including a Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. She is known for taking on quirky roles in her earlier films, later playing more prominent roles in the 1990s.
After Ryder's film debut in Lucas (1986), she gained attention with her performance in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). She further rose to prominence with major roles in Heathers (1989), Mermaids (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She garnered critical acclaim and two consecutive Academy Award nominations for her portrayal…
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Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including a Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. She is known for taking on quirky roles in her earlier films, later playing more prominent roles in the 1990s. After Ryder's film debut in Lucas (1986), she gained attention with her performance in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). She further rose to prominence with major roles in Heathers (1989), Mermaids (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She garnered critical acclaim and two consecutive Academy Award nominations for her portrayals of socialite May Welland in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993) and Jo March in the fifth film adaptation of Little Women (1994). Her other films during this period were Reality Bites (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), The Crucible (1996), Alien Resurrection (1997), Celebrity (1998), and Girl, Interrupted (1999), which she also executive-produced. In 2002, Ryder starred in the critically panned box office hit Mr. Deeds, after which her career declined and she took a break from films. In 2009, she returned in the high-profile film Star Trek. In 2010, she was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards: as the lead actress in the television film When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story and as part of the cast of Black Swan. She also reunited with Burton for Frankenweenie (2012). She has starred as Joyce Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things (2016–2025), for which she has received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations; and in 2020, she starred in the HBO drama miniseries The Plot Against America. Her relationship with Johnny Depp in the early 1990s and a 2001 arrest for shoplifting were both subjects of tabloid journalism. She has been open about her personal struggles with anxiety and depression. In 2000, Ryder received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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BODY OF WORK
Winona Ryder's Filmography
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One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5
as Self (uncredited)
Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
as Self - 'Stranger Things' Joyce Byers (archive footage)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
as Lydia
Haunted Mansion
as Pat (uncredited)
Gone in the Night
as Kath
Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon
as Self
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage)
Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine
as Lacey Groin
Destination Wedding
as Lindsay
The Pacer
Author: The JT LeRoy Story
as Herself
Experimenter
as Alexandra "Sasha" Milgram
Turks & Caicos
as Melanie Fall
Homefront
as Sheryl Marie Mott
Ben Lee: Catch My Disease
as Self
Frankenweenie
as Elsa Van Helsing (voice)
The Letter
as Martine Jamison
The Iceman
as Deborah Kuklinski
Stay Cool
as Scarlet Smith
Black Swan: Metamorphosis
as Self
The Dilemma
as Geneva Brannen
Black Swan
as Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan
When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story
as Lois Wilson
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
as Sandra Dulles
Star Trek
as Amanda Grayson
Water Pills
as Carrie
The Informers
as Cheryl Moore
The Last Word
as Charlotte Morris
The Blood Is the Life: The Making of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
as Self (archive footage)
Welcome
as Cynthia
Voom Portraits
as Self
The Ten
as Kelly La Fonda
The Darwin Awards
as Siri Taylor
Sex and Death 101
as Death Nell / Gillian De Raisx (#101)
Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton
as Self
One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming 'A Scanner Darkly'
as Self / Donna
The Weight of the Line: Animation Tales
as Self
A Scanner Darkly
as Donna Hawthorne
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Linklater: St. Richard of Austin
as Self
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
as Psychologist
Cabin Fever: Beneath the Skin
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection
as Self
101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment
as Self (archive footage)
Declaration of Independence
as Self
The Day My God Died
as Narrator (voice)
S1m0ne
as Nicola Anders
Mr. Deeds
as Babe Bennett
Zoolander
as Winona Ryder (uncredited)
Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads
as Self
Lost Souls
as Maya Larkin
Autumn in New York
as Charlotte Fielding
Girl, Interrupted
as Susanna
Celebrity
as Nola
Alien Resurrection
as Call
The Crucible
as Abigail Williams
Looking for Richard
as Self / Lady Anne
Boys
as Patty Vare
How to Make an American Quilt
as Finn Dodd
Little Women
as Jo March
Reality Bites
as Lelaina Pierce
The House of the Spirits
as Blanca Trueba
The Age of Innocence
as May Welland
Innocence and Experience: The Making of 'The Age of Innocence'
as Self
Bram Stoker's Dracula
as Mina Murray / Elisabeta
Blood Lines: Dracula - The Man, The Myth, The Movies
as Self
Night on Earth
as Corky
Mermaids
as Charlotte Flax
The Making of Edward Scissorhands
as Self
Edward Scissorhands
as Kim
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
as Dinky Bossetti
Great Balls of Fire!
as Myra Gale Brown
Heathers
as Veronica
1969
as Beth Carr
Beetlejuice
as Lydia
Square Dance
as Gemma
Lucas
as Rina