Minnesota, Memorabilia and More! 5 Fun Facts to Know About Actress Winona Ryder

Actress Winona Ryder opens up about motherhood, memorabilia and her beloved Minnesota. Learn five facts about The Plot Against America star, here!

My latest role has motivated me politically.

Playing a Jewish woman living under a fascist U.S. regime in HBO’s miniseries The Plot Against America “makes me want to speak out and do whatever I can,” says Winona, 48. “And the way to do that right now is to vote.”

I adore Minnesota!

Winona recently revisited her namesake hometown — Winona, Minnesota — in a Super Bowl ad for Squarespace. At the height of her ’90s fame, she escaped Hollywood and briefly moved to Minneapolis. “It’s such a friendly place,” she says of the North Star State. “The people are so sweet.”

I collect Hollywood Memorabilia.

Among the items she owns are Louis Armstrong’s bongo drums, Russ Tamblyn’s jacket from West Side Story, Leslie Caron’s dress from An American in Paris, Claudette Colbert’s gown from It Happened One Night, Olivia de Havilland’s blouse from Gone with the Wind and Sandra Dee’s bikini from the Tammy movies.

I owe it all to Tim Burton.

The offbeat director cast Winona in one of her first major films, 1988’s Beetlejuice, and worked with her again on 1990’s Edward Scissorhands. “He gave me my career,” she says. “I really wasn’t thriving in auditions. I had black hair and was very pale, and [Beetlejuice] led to other things.”

I’m not a mother, but I play one on Netflix’s sci-fi hit Stranger Things. 

“Usually the ‘mom’ roles I get offered are like standing in the doorway, saying, ‘Oh, you kids!’” notes Winona, who’s never been married. “This one is different because Joyce is much more than just something to service the plot.”

For more on Winona Ryder, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!