Throughout the expansive tapestry of her acting journey, Winona Ryder has donned an array of unforgettable personas, yet it was the 1989 dark comedy "Heathers" that almost curtains her professional path prematurely. The Oscar-nominee, who captured the hearts of a younger demographic through her role in Netflix's "Stranger Things," revealed in a recent Elle UK cover feature an anecdote about how her portrayal alongside Shannen Doherty and Christian Slater in "Heathers" was foretold to be her career's undoing. "I was warned that accepting 'Heathers' would spell the end of my working life," she reminisces.
Despite her subsequent involvement in numerous acclaimed films and television series, Ryder concedes that post-"Heathers," she indeed "lost a gig." Specifically, she had secured a part in "The Freshman," a 1990 film starring Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick, but her engagement was rescinded after the filmmakers screened "Heathers." "They rescinded the offer after viewing 'Heathers,' believing it mocked teenage suicide," she recounts. "They were profoundly offended, and, indeed, they took back their word."
Though disheartened by the loss of the "Freshman" role, Ryder remains steadfast in her pride for "Heathers." "I had to uphold my convictions. An apology was never in my vocabulary," she asserts, further stating, "If 'Heathers' is on, I never flick it off. I pretty much know it by heart."
In this film, helmed by Michael Lehmann and penned by Daniel Waters, Ryder's character Veronica is part of her high school's infamous clique of harsh girls but becomes entangled with the rebellious new student J.D. (Slater), who embarks on a spree of murdering classmates and staging their deaths as suicides in a quest for revenge.
Lehmann had earlier stood his ground against accusations of mocking teenage suicide in a 2016 interview with The Denver Post. He elucidated, "The more terrifying or disturbing human behavior gets, the richer the opportunity to mine it for a particular brand of comedy. You tweak it slightly to render it absurd, thereby facilitating a deeper understanding of human behavior, for people often act horribly with the noblest intentions." He continued, "Upon its release, many were outraged, and there was a significant politically correct backlash that cried, 'How dare you mock teenage suicide!' But Columbine hadn't occurred then. Besides, we weren't mocking teenage suicide; we were crafting a comedy that mirrored how adults perceive teenagers and how they interact among themselves."
Ryder had previously shared with Harper's Bazaar that her agent "literally pleaded on her knees" to dissuade her from starring in "Heathers." She recounted, "She begged, 'Please, you'll jeopardize your entire career.' I believe I made the right decision."
