Winona Ryder recalls losing film role due to ‘Heathers’ controversy

Winona Ryder recalls how her work in the 1988 dark comedy film, Heathers, had impacted her career. Speaking to Elle UK, the actor reminisces about that phase in her career, and claims that she lost an opportunity to work with the legendary Marlon Brando in an ambitious film due to her association with the teenage dark comedy film.

Ryder mentions in the interview:

‘I was told I was never gonna work again if I did Heathers’

Let us find out what Winona Ryder reveals in the interview about the impact of Heathers on her career, and how that film could have possibly led her to lose out on work.

“I had to stand my ground. I wasn’t gonna apologize,” says Winona Ryder on her stance about starring in Heathers

Winona Ryder candidly mentions in the interview:

‘I did lose a job.’

Cut to 1988, when Ryder starred in Heathers, helmed by Michael Lehmann. Along with her, the film stars Christian Slather, Shannen Doherty, and Lisanne Falk, among others. The plot follows a series of suicides in a high school, and how it is later revealed that the deaths are actually the result of a murderous spree of a boy named JD, who wanted to kill all the popular students.

According to Elle, after Heathers Winona Ryder "had landed the role" in Andrew Bergman's 1990 film The Freshman, starring Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, and Bruno Kirby. However, the makers of The Freshman then happened to watch saw Heathers, and things changed.

The Freshman team reportedly felt Heathers was ridiculing the sensitive issue of suicides about teens. Winona Ryder says in the interview:

"OK, OK, I’ll tell you. You remember the movie The Freshman?" She added: "They thought it was making fun of teen suicide. They were deeply offended and, yeah, they revoked the offer."

Ryder was disheartened by the thought of losing the chance of a lifetime to work with Marlon Brando, one of the biggest legends in the history of cinema. However, she also mentioned how that did not stop her from standing up and unapologetically owning up her work in Heathers. She claims:

"I’m like, 'I can’t work with Marlon Brando?' But I had to stand my ground. I wasn’t gonna apologise."

In fact, she cherishes her work in Heathers till date, and adds:

‘I never turn off Heathers if it’s on. I know it basically by heart.’

Even though we did not see the Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated actor in The Freshman, she has starred in many popular movies and series that have made her the star she is today.

Wynona Ryder's most well-known works include Edward Scissorhands (1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Little Women (1994), Alien Resurrection (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), When Love Is Not Enough (2010), Black Swan (2010), Stranger Things (2016-present), and many more. Her most recent release is Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

Which one is your favorite work of Winona Ryder? Tell us in the comments section!