Winona Ryder has revealed that her celebrity status led to her missing out on major film roles.
The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star recently gave a wide-ranging interview with Esquire, in which she spoke about her decades in the spotlight and the “baggage” that cost her certain parts.
She recalled: “Trying to convince someone to ignore the noise around me was tough. I saw it in their eyes. I lost a lot of parts because of that.”
“It was such a brilliant script and we were at this little restaurant and people kept coming up to me and there was a random paparazzi guy outside, which was kind of unusual for me,” she said.
“But I just remember his face, and trying to convince him that this isn’t normal, and I know it’s not normal.”
Eventually, Kate Winslet would land her fourth Oscar nomination for her performance in the film, which also starred Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo.
“I’m not in any way complaining,” Winona insisted. “But there was this whole time when I felt like I would be a distraction, as well. I got it.
“Certainly, in the 1990s, I became aware of that. And there was a switching-of-the-guard feeling, too. As you get older there are these new, younger actresses. It’s so drilled into you how disposable actresses can be, our shelf life. You hear it all the time.”
Read Winona’s full Esquire interview here.