Winona Ryder reveals she was sexually harassed as a young actress
‘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’, she said.
Winona Ryder has revealed she faced “a couple of difficult experiences” when she was younger with people “who were just blatantly sexually harassing me”.
The US actress, who stars in Tim Burton’s 1988 movie Beetlejuice and its forthcoming sequel, said that “in retrospect” those experiences “really soured” making movies for her.
Speaking to magazine Esquire UK, the 52-year-old reflected on her career, which began in the 1980s, and what it was like to meet disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The actress suggested he would not hire her as “I think I knew a little bit too much”.
She also said: “I think (not being hired by him) was (for) various reasons.
“The one time I was supposed to have a meeting with (him), 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?”.
Weinstein is currently awaiting a retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan and Ryder said she can “really understand” what his alleged victims went through.
“I had a couple of difficult experiences with a couple of people who were just blatantly sexually harassing me,” she said.
“And then it happened again in my 30s. It wasn’t an assault. But it was incredibly inappropriate. It was wild.
“I really understand (what the alleged 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.”
She added that she had become accustomed to brushing off the unwanted attentions of men.
She said: “If someone was being inappropriate or drunkenly hitting on me it was like, ‘Ha ha!’. You kind of do that. ‘Ha ha!’ Inappropriate? I dealt with that. But touching me? It felt very invasive.”
Esquire UK reports that Ryder was not a victim of Weinstein and does not want to name any of those involved or to go into what happened in detail.
“I think in retrospect, it really soured (making movies),” she said.
“All the great actors always told me that when it stops being amazing, you gotta get out. I really took that to heart.”
Ryder, who has had high-profile relationships with Johnny Depp and Matt Damon, reflected on her love life and said she was ready to be “a spinster” before she met her partner Scott Mackinlay Hahn.
“I was like, I’m f****** done. I was like, I’ll just be a spinster”, she said.
“I know for younger people it’s a hard thing to hear that it’ll happen when you least expect it. But…”
Asked if they are married, Hahn said: “Not officially, but we’re about to be.”
He added it will happen “probably later this year”.
Ryder is also known for starring in films including Heathers, Edward Scissorhands and Little Women and also plays Joyce Byers in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
The Autumn issue of Esquire UK is on sale now.
