Winona Ryder

Life's short, so if you're going to spend months doing something, it's gotta be pretty special... But I'm very happy to enter my Baby Jane years, and hopefully segue into the Ruth Gordon years.

One of my worst fears is being a self-indulgent person.

Even though 'Heathers' didn't make a lot of money, I really was able to transition into a situation where people thought I could play an attractive role because of it.

What you wear and it always starts with your shoes determines what kind of character you are. A woman who wears high heels carries herself very different to a girl who wears sneakers or sandals. It really helps determine how you carry yourself.

I've always been super-private and protective of certain experiences and certain friends.

I was single for a while and dating and... I just didn't know how to do it! I've always been like that: when I was 15, there was a guy I liked, and we made out, and I thought that meant he was my boyfriend.

It's part of the celebrity process but my life has never been as interesting or as wild as what's been printed about me.

I don't have any interest in being a movie star.

It's an indication of how cynical our society has become that any kind of love story with a sad theme is automatically ridiculed as sentimental junk.

I was regarded as the school freak which further reinforced a lot of inhibitions and doubts I had about myself. I was a shy, frightened teenager for a long time.

It's interesting because, even with 'Beetlejuice,' I was an awkward kid. I started at puberty and went through it on film. Lydia was one of my favorite roles because I related to her a lot.

I'd rather never have been married than been divorced a few times. Not that there's anything wrong with divorce, but I don't think I could do it if that was a possibility.

Break-ups are hard for anybody, but it's particularly tough when it's being documented and you see the person's picture everywhere. Most people don't have that added problem when they break up with someone.

I think I really scored with my parents. All of my friends pretty much came from broken homes, and my parents are still together, but not only that, they're still in love and still write together.

My dad took me to all the best rock and punk shows when I was growing up and music has always been a part of my life. So I'm very interested in the music scene and I suppose that's why I've ended up going out with musicians. Dave Pirner is still one of my best friends.

I was very lucky because Tim Burton really gave me a career. I don't think Hollywood would've known what to do with me. If I hadn't done 'Beetlejuice,' I think I would've just gone back to my school.

When I was young, I was the sweetheart of the press. They loved me but were kind of waiting for me to mess up. I had no skeletons in my closet, no major past to talk about.

I get sent a lot of scripts where you're just the mom.

I'm not interested in playing the girl that's just there to make the guy, you know, give him a talking to.

I've always been fascinated with twins.

The older you get, the more yourself you can be and the less worried you are about what other people think.

I would love to someday do a play. I did one when I was very young in San Francisco, where I grew up. A girl can dream.

But I've always felt a need to have a life which is completely separate - at least as far as possible - from the kind of illusory lifestyle that comes with being a celebrity.

You go through spells where you feel that maybe you're too sensitive for this world. I certainly felt that.

I'm so sick of people shaming women for being sensitive or vulnerable. It's so bizarre to me... I do have those qualities, and I just don't think there's anything wrong with them.

I've learned that it's OK to be flawed.

I feel my best when I'm happy.

It's great concentrating so hard you feel your brain will explode.

I don't use the Internet, but apparently you can find out everything on it.

I went from weirdo teenager to pixie waif to them not knowing what the hell to do with me.

You can't pay enough money to... cure that feeling of being broken and confused.

I'm used to being told what to say, but not what to think... that's usually left up to me.

I'm not someone like Norma Desmond who's harking back to her younger days.

I'm not into older guys. To tell you the truth, Richard Gere is not the sexiest man alive, in my book.

I feel like I had to learn how to take care of myself and find out what made me happy aside from just making films.

There was a time when all that mattered was that you were in a good movie.

My favourite performances are by actresses like Bette Davis in 'All About Eve' or Gena Rowlands in pretty much anything - performances that have nothing to do with age.

Some people go to L.A. just to see recognizable people. There are tour buses. But in New York, everyone seems a little less into that.

I can see it in even great actors' performances, when they're phoning it in.

I binge-watched this show 'Damages.' Glenn Close and Rose Byrne are so good. Lily Tomlin is in it. You see all these great actors, and the writing is terrific. There are a lot of shows like that.

When I'm acting well, it's the most exhilarating experience. When I'm bad, it's miserable.

The Duffers can be super articulate or very straight to the point. I was really impressed with how they were with each other.

I remember when I was about 18, Sean Penn made a bet with me. He had just directed his first movie, and he's like, 'By the time you're 30, I will bet you $500 that you'll be sick of acting.' I'm still waiting to collect, because I'm not.

I'm not into wrinkles.

It used to be that you commit to something, and then basically you spend your year doing that. Now there's a constant conversation of how you have to keep working in order to remind people that you're around.

I don't believe I am influencing anybody but myself.

Money doesn't matter on a deeply personal level. It doesn't make you feel any happier. But of course I am very aware that I don't have to worry about earning a living or about those very important practical things that most people have to worry about on a very real level.

It's all about knowing when to listen to that conversation and - without sounding really hokey - when to tune it out and follow your heart.

You've got to grow up sometime.

I have this sense that I didn't really start growing up until my twenties.

I'm quite comfortable looking at myself in movies, probably because I've been doing it for so long, since I was a kid. So I sort of watched myself grow up and go through adolescence, like, basically on camera.

Usually, the roles that you get offered that are the mom roles are very much the mom role.

I am not a person who can really sit around and think about regrets because with every bad experience that you have, there is weirdly something good that comes from it.

It's really good to be able to think about past loves without having a pit in my stomach, or cringing or feeling heart-broken, or like they hate you. Don't you think?

It's equally as important to me to be a good friend and a good sister and a good daughter. I'm very close with my family and friends.

I was watching TV, and there was this oldies-but-goodies film fest, and 'Lucas' came on. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm an oldie!'

My father is an atheist. My mother is Buddhist. They encouraged my siblings and me to take the best part of other religions to make our own belief system.

I loved movies, but I can't remember ever really wanting to be an actress, and I certainly didn't imagine ever being in a movie. I think I wanted to be a writer.

I wanted to be just a normal girl flirting with a normal guy. It's like, you meet people, and they know this stuff about you. It's why you want to meet somebody who's in the same business, only because they understand more. But you don't necessarily want to be with another actor.

I was very depressed after breaking off my engagement with Johnny ten years ago. I was embarrassingly dramatic at the time, but you have to remember I was only 19 years old.

There was a time when I was 19 when I really, really, really thought I was going crazy. I was exhausted and going through a terrible depression.

Googling yourself is maybe one of the worst things you can do. I did it once, and someone had to talk me off a ledge.

I think it's important to have as much as a normal life and take the time to get perspective because it only helps your work in the long run.

My home is San Francisco - that is definitely what I consider my home.

People think that they just want movies like Pretty Woman, when really they - at least the ones that I know personally - have been waiting for something that doesn't completely insult them.

My parents are awesome, but they're pretty left-wing.

Crazy isn't being broken, or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me, amplified.

I'm just coming from a more personal - and, I guess, more nostalgic - point of view.

Scorsese would talk to me about this movie 'The Heiress' with Olivia de Havilland. We were talking about this scene in it, and suddenly we were rolling. It was very intentional, and I didn't realize - because we talk old movies all the time.

Remember, I'm the kind of kid who used to get stuffed into a locker by school bullies. I've never felt like I'm a big star at any level of my life.

When your parents are madly in love for 45 years, your standards are really high.

I love photography and first editions. I have that in my genes. My father was an archivist.

I think I'm learning to be bolder in my career choices and be more confident in my personal life. I haven't always felt very secure as an individual, but now I feel I certain confidence and sense of self that gets me through the day a lot better than before.

You try to get out there and live. I've always had good friends who've been very supportive and help make me feel good and grounded because I've never felt attached to the film industry.

I did this little movie I really love called 'Experimenter,' but that took six years to get made and no money.

I love watching old movies, and I read a lot of autobiographies.

I want to be a good friend, a good sister, a good person and a good actress.

I love getting older. I think it has to do with always being the kid on set.

It's just people should realize that the celebrity aspect of being an actor is very rarely enjoyable for people like me who would always rather go unnoticed and disappear into the crowd.

With 'Ed Wood,' I sobbed. With 'Frankenweenie,' I was crying. With 'Edward Scissorhands,' I always cry. There's always an incredible amount of purity, even if they look a certain way.

It's also a question of finding good material and interesting roles. I'm not the only actress out there, and good parts just don't fall into your lap that easily. But I like most of the films I've made recently and so I'm pretty positive about the future.

When you finally accept that it's OK not to have answers and it's OK not to be perfect, you realize that feeling confused is a normal part of what it is to be a human being.

If I showed you scripts from my first few movies, the descriptions of my characters all said 'the ugly girl'.

Weird people follow you in the streets, you can't sit alone in a restaurant or a cafe and read a book in peace, and I think everybody values those moments of being alone.

I love books and going to bookstores. My favorite sound is the sound of the needle hitting the record.

On the set for 'Beetlejuice,' it was before people would go watch on monitors, and directors would be next to the camera.

I have my email on my Blackberry, and that's about it.

There's a couple of times that I did it for the... paycheck. Even when I was younger - I remember I did this movie that wasn't good, called '1969.' I totally did it 'cause I could get out of school.

I did 'Beetlejuice,' and it was a big movie, but it didn't help my high-school experience. In fact, it made it worse. I was a freak and a witch.

I've loved making movies. I feel like I've been so lucky because I've gotten to be in movies that are some of my favorites, regardless of my being in them - like 'Heathers.'

That's an aspect of this business which can be very frustrating and aggravating. Most of what is written about you is wrong and so much of what does get printed is often about personal things that you don't want to have other people read about.

I'm the type who'd rather not work than work on something I'm not into. I've done that a couple of times, and I feel like I can totally see it in my performance.

I would not want to go back to playing the ingenue.

There are certain directors who will start talking to you about something, and suddenly you'll be ready to roll, and you'll realize it was very specific.

Apparently, Bette Davis and a lot of actresses had a hard time in their 30s, too.

I was inspired by lots of people, certainly in acting and in writing and stuff, but I never wanted to be somebody else.

For a long time, I was almost ashamed of being an actress. I felt like it was a shallow occupation. People would be watching my every move.

I love westerns. John Ford is one of the 10 best directors.

I don't hang out with agents and producers and I'm not into the business side at all.

You have to work to be relevant. If you don't, then people will forget, and the studios won't want you because they won't remember the last thing you did that made money.