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Winona Ryder

Born 1971-10-29
📍 Winona, Minnesota, USA

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.

Filmography 95

One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5
as Self (uncredited)
2026
Tim Burton: Life in the Line
as Self
2025
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
as Lydia
2024
Tim Burton: Life in the Line
as Self
2024
Haunted Mansion
as Pat (uncredited)
2023
Gone in the Night
as Kath
2022
Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
2022
The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon
as Self
2022
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine
as Lacey Groin
2020
The Plot Against America
as Evelyn Finkel
2020
Destination Wedding
as Lindsay
2018
Stranger Things
as Joyce Byers
2016
Author: The JT LeRoy Story
as Herself
2016
Experimenter
as Alexandra "Sasha" Milgram
2015
Show Me a Hero
as Vinni Restiano
2015
Hot Ones
as Self
2015
Scorsese's Women
as Mask
2014
Turks & Caicos
as Melanie Fall
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self - Guest
2014
Homefront
as Sheryl Marie Mott
2013
Drunk History
as Mary Dyer
2013
Ben Lee: Catch My Disease
as Self
2012
Frankenweenie
as Elsa Van Helsing (voice)
2012
The Letter
as Martine Jamison
2012
The Iceman
as Deborah Kuklinski
2012
Stay Cool
as Scarlet Smith
2011
Black Swan: Metamorphosis
as Self
2011
The Dilemma
as Geneva Brannen
2011
Black Swan
as Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan
2010
When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story
as Lois Wilson
2010
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
as Sandra Dulles
2009
Star Trek
as Amanda Grayson
2009
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
as Self - Guest
2009
The Informers
as Cheryl Moore
2008
The Last Word
as Charlotte Morris
2008
The Blood Is the Life: The Making of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
as Self (archive footage)
2007
Welcome
as Cynthia
2007
Voom Portraits
as Self
2007
The Ten
as Kelly La Fonda
2007
The Darwin Awards
as Siri Taylor
2007
Sex and Death 101
as Death Nell / Gillian De Raisx (#101)
2007
Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton
as Self
2007
One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming 'A Scanner Darkly'
as Self / Donna
2006
The Weight of the Line: Animation Tales
as Self
2006
A Scanner Darkly
as Donna Hawthorne
2006
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
2005
Linklater: St. Richard of Austin
as Self
2004
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
as Psychologist
2004
One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection
as Self
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2003
101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment
as Self (archive footage)
2003
Declaration of Independence
as Self
2003
Celebrities Uncensored
as Self
2003
The Day My God Died
as Narrator (voice)
2003
S1m0ne
as Nicola Anders
2002
Mr. Deeds
as Babe Bennett
2002
Zoolander
as Winona Ryder (uncredited)
2001
Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads
as Self
2001
Lost Souls
as Maya Larkin
2000
Autumn in New York
as Charlotte Fielding
2000
Girl, Interrupted
as Susanna
1999
Strangers with Candy
as Fran
1999
Celebrity
as Nola
1998
Alien Resurrection
as Call
1997
The Crucible
as Abigail Williams
1996
Looking for Richard
as Self / Lady Anne
1996
E! True Hollywood Story
as Self
1996
Boys
as Patty Vare
1996
How to Make an American Quilt
as Finn Dodd
1995
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
as Winona (voice)
1995
Little Women
as Jo March
1994
Friends
as Melissa Warburton
1994
Reality Bites
as Lelaina Pierce
1994
The House of the Spirits
as Blanca Trueba
1993
The Age of Innocence
as May Welland
1993
Innocence and Experience: The Making of 'The Age of Innocence'
as Self
1993
Bram Stoker's Dracula
as Mina Murray / Elisabeta
1992
The Larry Sanders Show
as Winona Ryder
1992
Blood Lines: Dracula - The Man. The Myth. The Movies.
as Self
1992
Night on Earth
as Corky
1991
Mermaids
as Charlotte Flax
1990
The Making of Edward Scissorhands
as Self
1990
Edward Scissorhands
as Kim
1990
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
as Dinky Bossetti
1990
The Simpsons
as Allison Taylor (voice)
1989
Great Balls of Fire!
as Myra Gale Brown
1989
Heathers
as Veronica Sawyer
1989
1969
as Beth Carr
1988
Beetlejuice
as Lydia
1988
Square Dance
as Gemma
1987
Lucas
as Rina
1986
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
The Oscars
as Self
1953