Winona Ryder has seen a career renaissance thanks to Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
“The reaction has been completely overwhelming, in the best possible way,” Ryder said of the thriller, which is her first TV series.
Ryder has been a household name for most of the past 30 years, thanks to roles in late-’80s hits such as “Beetlejuice,” “Heathers” and “Edward Scissorhands.” Her film debut came at age 14 in 1986’s “Lucas.”
The star, whose career took a tumble after a 2001 shoplifting arrest, has returned this summer with one of her biggest hits in years. The Netflix thriller centers on a young boy who mysteriously disappears in 1980s suburban America. Ryder plays the boy’s frazzled single mother, Joyce.
She said she has tried hard not to get distracted by the media reaction to the show.
“I have a good system: My parents read everything and forward me the best stuff,” the Oscar-nominated actress told reporters Wednesday at the Television Critics’ Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills.
“I have a lot of compassion for Joyce,” Ryder said. “She wasn’t perfect: She was complicated, struggling. She carried around a lot of guilt that she was leaning on her older son. She’s like a lot of women I know who are really good people and are just trying to get by in the best way.
“I appreciated her flaws,” she added. “There’s nothing cookie-cutter or perfect about her.”