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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Famously... Winona

Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in 1990.

“[Winona] Ryder has said that she’s ready for her ‘Ruth Gordon years,’ an allusion to a lengthy career that many who enter the industry as ingenues, as Ryder did to some extent, rarely pull off.” That’s Thessaly La Force in Harper’s Bazaar, reporting last July on the celebrated Hollywood actress. At only 15, Ryder made her feature-film debut in Lucas (1986), a movie well received by critics. Two years later she starred alongside Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Catherine O’Hara in Beetlejuice, which kickstarted nearly four decades of celebrated roles and a life firmly in the spotlight. In the newest iteration of BBC Sound’s Famously… podcast, the actress Maisie Williams dissects Ryder’s life and career, from her early childhood to Stranger Things (and everything in between). If her latest role in the Beetlejuice sequel tells us anything, Ryder’s Ruth Gordon aspirations are well within reach. —Jack Sullivan

Photo: Bei/Shutterstock