Actress Winona Ryder explains why it's so hard to change her 'fragile' image in Hollywood

Winona Ryder revealed to New York Magazine that she feels it&#039;s difficult to shed her &#039;fragile&#039; public image.

(Image credit: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for Sundance)

published 8 August 2016

Winona Ryder is awkward, adorable, and brooding in all the right ways — it's what made her a Gen-X darling in Heathers, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands. But maybe all that so-called sensitivity isn't what makes her "weird" and "edgy," but simply, well, human?

Ryder opened up about our tendency to pathologize emotions — particularly female ones — at New York:

"I wish I could unknow this, but there is a perception of me that I'm supersensitive and fragile. And I am supersensitive, and I don't think that that's a bad thing. To do what I do, I have to remain open." She says that sensitive is so often used as a bad word — a euphemism for weak or crazy. "There's a line in the show where someone says [of her Stranger Things character], 'She's had anxiety problems in the past.' A lot of people have picked up on that, like, 'Oh, you know, she's crazy.' And I'm like, 'Okay, wait a second, she's struggling.' Two kids, deadbeat dad, working her ass off. Who wouldn't be anxious?"Even that word, anxious. It's a bad word. [...] I remember I did Diane Sawyer, and I talked about my experiences with anxiety and depression when I was that age. And I think by doing that, maybe coupled with my physical size, there's this 'crazy' thing. And I've realized recently it's literally impossible to try to change that story." [New York]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.