by Paul Fischer
Winona Ryder
As
we write this, with Halloween 2000 approaching and a spate of devil themed movies
hitting the big screens, we snatched up the opportunity to speak to the star of
one of 'em, Winona Ryder of Lost
Souls. Ryder, born Horowitz -- and to some interesting conversation down
below -- has had a remarkable career that has seen two nominations for an Academy
Award (for Supporting Actress in Little Women and The Age of Innocence)
and great roles in dramas Reality Bites and Girl, Interrupted (where
she stepped back and let Angelina Jolie steal the show, IMHO). She's also knocked
our socks off on the fantasy side with work in Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorshands
and Alien Resurrection. Lost Souls, in which Ryder plays an obsessed
secular exorcist hunting down the Antichrist, is one that has been sitting on
the shelf for a while. Finally released, the film's tag line (right out of one
of the character's mouth) is "They've had their 2000 years. Now it's our turn"
We started with that 'cuz, being a Member of the Tribe, we felt kind of left out
. . .
Winona Ryder: I don't like that tag line very much. I felt they could come up with something a little scarier, don't you think? I think it's kind of confusing if you haven't seen the movie.
CrankyCritic: Then
let's talk about scary movies. Are you a fan? Do you have favorites?
Winona Ryder: Actually,
to me this is a genre movie. Supernatural. Alien was a Sci-Fi movie, in
my mind. I don't like the slash 'em up movies very much. I love psychological
thrillers. I think the ultimate is Don't Look Now, a Nicholas Roeg
movie with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Anything dealing
with clairvoyance; The Dead Zone is a great movie. I think we sort of collectively
have a fear of the unknown and the invisible and I always find it much more terrifying
when you don't see the gore; you don't even see the bad guy, if it's the Devil
or if it's an alien.
CrankyCritic: And you've had first hand experience with Aliens
Winona Ryder: The first Alien movie is a great example because you
only see the alien like, maybe three times but the entire movie you feel its presence.
There's this great scene where Tom Skerrit is in the vent and you know
the alien is in there, but you never see it and he turns around and it just cuts
and you know he's just got it but it never cuts away to the alien so I always
think movies are a lot scarier when you don't see what our imaginations are very
sick aren't they?
CrankyCritic:What
fascinated you about doing a Hunt the Antichrist flick?
Winona Ryder: I've always fantasized about being older and looking
back on my career and having all different types of movies. I really did want
to explore this genre of film. To me, I would call it more of a supernatural thriller,
'cuz there's not a lot of gore. I'm not a big fan of gore unless ... there are
exceptions, I guess. I learned a lot of stuff about; y'know, I read the Bible
for the first time and we got to talk to this very prominent priest who had performed
so-called exorcisms and watched videotapes of them. That was very disturbing.
I don't believe in the devil at all but I believe that these people had severe
mental disorders and maybe some schizophrenia
CrankyCritic: Anything
paranormal?
Winona Ryder: Yeah,
there are things. It's so amazing to me what the human body is capable of doing
when you've lost your mind that much. Contorting and insane positions and breaking
your 
own bones
and things like that. The interesting thing I found was that, in all the tapes
we watched, it was always a teenaged girl. It was very clear to me that they were
very disturbed people. I wasn't raised to believe in the devil or that there was
Hell. I actually think it's a very abusive thing to inflict on a kid to make them
think that they're going to go to Hell and burn if they do something wrong. It's
not how I would raise my kid.
CrankyCritic: This
was the first time you read The Bible? Were you not raised in a religious tradition
or is it that you didn't have exposure to the New Testament? [CrankyNote:
Ryder was born surnamed Horowitz. We just made the natural assumption...]
Winona Ryder: [laughs]
I was raised in a really great way. My mom is Buddhist and my dad's an atheist
but they both encouraged me and my brothers and sister; they never badmouthed
any religion. They said take all the best parts of everything and make up your
own, sort of. My father was more "it's the opiate of the masses" and things like
that and I do, really, having read the Bible now, it's talking to me. A lot of
it is very beautiful and that people could really use it - look at Yugoslavia
and Northern Ireland and all over the world -- to kill people and to hate people
and to cause so much pain; it's amazing to me that religion is used that way.
I've always been aware of that but I was aware of it without having read the Bible.
And so I was so shocked, like, god these are beautiful little stories and this
is tearing apart our world. But it's not. Religion isn't. We are using it just
like we're using the devil as an excuse - blame the devil for the things you do.
The old saying and it's ridiculous
CrankyCritic: It's
Flip Wilson ...
Winona Ryder: ...
to not take responsibility for yourself. "The devil made me do it" is crazy.
CrankyCritic: So,
as an actor, when you're trying to get across a concept which may be alien to
most people -- even in the Christian religions the Antichrist isn't a universal
thing -- what do you draw on to help get across the fear and the mysticism?
Winona Ryder: I'm
not sure. In my mind it was so absurd. I was so aware that we were making a movie
and that it's a genre movie and that what I was thinking was absurd was a lot
of people's reality. Acting was required in terms of whipping around and looking
at a piece of tape next to the camera lens and stuff. [Director Januscz Kaminski]
created an incredible working environment on the set. I'd known him for years
and known his career. I'd worked with him before and he was so amazing. He really
brought an amazing energy to the set. When I was confused or when things didn't
make any sense to me, I knew it would look great and that he could make sense
of it as a conductor.
CrankyCritic: Are
you happy with the non-traditional ending?
Winona Ryder: I
think there should be more of 'em. Bowtie endings drive me crazy. There are so
many of them.
CrankyCritic: Bowtie?
Winona Ryder: Where
everything is tied up perfectly. It's getting harder and harder now. Studios really
want bowtie endings and you really have to fight. I love ambiguous endings but
I think it's very important that she's such a convicted person that. Actually,
I haven't seen the actual final, final cut of the movie. I think it's really great
that you don't know if she did the right thing. She's just so convicted. It's
very important.
CrankyCritic:
So how does it feel if you're told that the focus group didn't like the ending
. . . ?
Winona Ryder: I
can't believe that movie scenes can be edited and endings can be changed because
Susie from the mall didn't get it. Or didn't like the ending. When I started out
it wasn't like that. There weren't focus groups. And I remember when they started
happening for every movie. It was just terrifying for the director because he
would have t alter his movie because y'know this group of people in Costa Mesa
wanted a happier ending. A lot of people say that that's why The Crucible
didn't do well. Because it had this really depressing ending. It's, like, it's
The Crucible! The ending is so powerful. I really love that
movie. I think it's a movie that, in the years to come, will be shown in schools.
It's an incredible, powerful movie. It's so heartbreaking to know that this whole
thing of final cut; director's don't get final cut anymore. It's very sad.
CrankyCritic: Have
you been in a film where they've shot alternate endings in anticipation of this?
Winona Ryder: I
have, yeah. But most of the time we just show them how bad it can be [laughs].
Hopefully all this madness with the media, no offense, with the box office...
you're not going to look back on your life and reminisce about your picture in
People Magazine. You're going to hopefully look back and think about your
performances and your films. When you're promoting a movie you have to do stuff
like this and talk about it and you have to go to the premiere. It's something
you do to support your film and support your work. And it's important and it does
make a difference. I just think it's the work that matters.
CrankyCritic: This
movie has been on the shelf for 2 years and is being released the same week as
The Exorcist . . .
Winona Ryder: Yeah.
CrankyCritic: Do
you hate the wait?
Winona Ryder: I
am now of the mindset that I just want to do one movie a year, if that. You see
the same faces out there. You see the same things over and over. I'm sick of it.
It makes me not want to go see movies when you know everything. How much they
cost. What people are paid. What the story is, the cast, everything. There's no
mystery anymore, so I don't concern myself with any of it. I work with people
who take care of that end of it. If I did that I would be a really f****d up person.
I would be incredibly worried all the time and neurotic. I think it's very unhealthy
for an actor to read the trades. The day I do that is the day I quit acting. Years
ago, I started acting fifteen years ago, it was only about the work. Nobody in
the actor community knew about; it only mattered if the person was good and directors
would hire you because you were good. It didn't have anything to do with how much
your last movie made. The climate has really changed out there. It's kind of frightening
that you see the same faces twice a year. It just doesn't seem real. It just doesn't
seem honest. For me, when I look back on my career I want to look back on performances
and work not "oh that movie made this amount of money" or "that movie tanked"
or whatever. It's really the work that matters.
CrankyCritic: You've never paid attention to the back end?
Winona Ryder: For a little while I did sort of follow the business end
of it and I drove myself nuts. I was not in good shape because when you think
about that stuff ... that's why you hire people. To shield you from that stuff.
All you should be thinking about is your own work and your own performance. I'm
not saying I don't care if my movies don't make money. If my movies make money
that gives me an opportunity to make movies like Girl, Interrupted and things
I've been developing for years. So I guess it is important but just as an actress
I can't think about that kind of stuff.
CrankyCritic: Are
you comfortable looking at your work when it's done? Some actors can't look at
themselves on screen.
Winona Ryder: Yeah,
I can. I think probably because I've been doing it so long, since I was a kid
that I can watch myself grow up and go through adolescence basically on camera.
I've seen the worst of it. Also, I'm such a film fanatic; I love movies so much
that there's a couple of movies I've made that I don't realize I'm in them. Like
Age of Innocence and The Crucible and Heathers and these
movies I think are so amazing that I don't even mind watching myself at all.