Whatever Happened to Winona Ryder?

It seems that Winona something in common with Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey-- she seems to be stuck in an unending period of adolescence: Asked to free-associate about her inspirations and influences, Winona predictably enough namechecks Timothy Leary, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, John Lennon, Patti Smith. First up, though, she wants to look backwards. "I'd include the script for Heathers in the category of literature. It said so much about society. There is an assumption when you're young that things don't mean as much or aren't as painful. But first love is the most devastating of all. Society will always look down on teenagers - parents and teachers don't seem to pay enough attention to kids when they are at their most painful age. Most of the great writers were outcasts ..." Most of the great writers, however, were not teenagers. In fact, discounting Rimbaud and Chatterton, none of them was. And there's a reason for this: to be a great anything, you have to grow up. Winona's appearance here is truly disturbing. She remains little Miss Voice-of-a-Generation but at first sight it appears to be a generation 20 years younger than her own. In the high-gloss photographs, gothy and bloodless in vintage lace, she comes across not as a grown-up Lydia from Beetlejuice, but as a potential Miss Havisham, still stuck forever at 20 minutes to nine on her wedding day - aka the set of Reality Bites, 1994. This isn't just about a Hollywood actress facing the looming perils of 40. For Winona Ryder, but also for anyone her age, the question is this: how, if you are a product of youth culture and nothing but youth culture, do you grow up? Trying to grow up, it helps to be involved with something difficult, something which takes a lot of effort but which eventually rewards that effort. In other words, a craft. Parenting is one kind of craft. Acting, though it pains me to say so, is another. An actor of 35 has to learn to act 35 - and this Winona has never done. On screen, her default mode is to slouch, play with her hair, wince and look winsome. Winona has become the female version of Ralph Macchio, who even though he is 45 years old, is still only seen as "The Karate Kid". It's hard to believe that she is actually older than Angelina Jolie, but when you compare the two, it is obvious to see that while Angelina has evolved, Winona just makes you remember her old movies. "Girl Uninterrupted" (UK Guardian)