Winona Ryder talks about her breakup with Johnny Depp in the 1990s. Image Source: US Weekly
Winona Ryder talks about her breakup with Johnny Depp in the 90s.
In a recent cover story with Harper’s Bazaar, Winona Ryder, the Stranger Things stars explains that she is in the process of getting in terms of her past, making sense of her present and looking at what to do when one finds themselves in the Hollywood version of Upside Down.
The actress explained that she loved watching movies and eventually landed her first movie role in 1986 in ‘Lucas’ at the age of 13, which was an adolescent romantic comedy, and by the age of 18, Winona Ryder was known to everyone. During the interview, the actress talked about her relationship with actor Johnny Depp, which started in 1989 after the two met at the New York premiere of Great Balls of Fire! and soon became like a dark fairy tale come to life. They also starred together in 1990's Edward Scissorhands.
Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder were described as two melancholy, breathtakingly attractive young individuals wandering the red carpet with the elegant casualness of old Hollywood movie stars. The two of them got engaged after five months of dating and broke up in the early 1990s, four years later. Johnny Depp’s tattoo ‘Winona forever’ was changed to ‘Wino forever, which made it pretty clear that the couple had decided to go their separate ways.
During the interview, Winona Ryder hinted that after the couple split up, the ferocity of Hollywood culture at the time made life far darker for her than anyone knew. She said it was her "Girl, Interrupted" actual life, which is a movie about a woman with mental health struggles. She further said she remembered playing the part of the actress who was tortured in a Chilean prison. She also stated her therapist had advised her to see herself being kind to a younger version of herself. After the shoot, the actress admitted that it was difficult for her to see herself as a little child because of the phony scars and bruises on her face.
Winona said that she remembered questioning herself whether she would ever treat the little girl the way she was treating herself and realized that she was simply hurting herself inside and not taking care of herself. The actress recalled how her "The Age of Innocence" co-star Michelle Pfeiffer encouraged her while she was having a hard time by assuring her that everything that was perplexing and out of her control will eventually fade away life would begin to seem normal once more. She claimed that at the time, her co-star would have told her that this challenging moment in her life will pass, but she was unable to hear him.
Winona said that she has never talked about how she was doing post her breakup with Johnny Depp and said that it’s a part of her that is very private and is hidden in her heart for those days, and it’s really hard to describe how she feels, especially for someone who grew up with social media. Winona Ryder has been involved with the fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hanh, but the memories of her relationship with actor Johnny Depp were recently brought back under the spotlight after it was mentioned during the divorce trial between Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard.
Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. Image Source: Showbiz CheatSheet
Winona Ryder said back in 2016 when Amber Heard obtained a restraining order against Johnny Depp that she was not there and she was not aware of what had happened when she was asked about the domestic abuse and violence accusations and allegations by Amber Heard against Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder said that she is not calling anyone a liar but simply stating that it’s difficult and upsetting for her to wrap her head around it. Talking about her relationship, she said that it was a long time ago and they were together for four years. The relationship was a huge deal for her and added that she had never seen Johnny Depp being violent towards anyone before.
Winona said that from her own experience with Johnny Depp, he was never violent with anyone and he remembers him as good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1991, Johnny Depp said that he was being honest with everyone when he said that there had been nothing ever throughout his 27 years that was comparable to the feeling he had with Winona Ryder. Johnny Depp added at the time that it’s weird, a bounding atom or something, but it’s real and stated that the truth is very powerful and her eyes kill him.
Johnny Depp won all three counts of the defamation trial against Amber Heard, and the jury at the Fairfax County Court, Virginia awarded the actor $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which was later reduced to $350,000 according to Virginia law.
