Winona Ryder says film director threatened to destroy her career

The ‘Beetlejuice’ star said it was working with ‘Wednesday’ star Jenna Ortega that made her realise the gravity of the earlier incident

Winona Ryder has recalled being threatened by a director she worked with on a film – and not realising until years later that it was a terrifying incident.

In a new interview with Elle UK, the Beetlejuice star said that she was working on a movie as a younger woman and had complained to the film’s producers about the behaviour of the director of the film. A day later, the director cornered her privately and threatened her career.

Ryder said that the director approached her on the day of filming a “big scene” under the pretense of offering her general advice.

“He came up to me, and he was like, ‘OK, so, um, if we just try it like – you f***ing c***, I’m gonna destroy your f***ing life – OK? So let’s just do it like that?’”

Ryder continued: “And I had to f***ing act. And what’s so crazy is my brother was working as a PA on the movie, and I didn’t even tell him, and I didn’t complain.”

The 53-year-old, whose credits also include Heathers, Edward Scissorhands and the Netflix sensation Stranger Things, repeated the story on the set of last year’s comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – and only then did she realise the gravity of the director’s words, partly because one of the people she told the story to was her 22-year-old co-star Jenna Ortega.

“I was almost telling it like it was this funny story,” Ryder added. “Then I’m looking at Jenna’s face and imagining it happening to her. It wasn’t until that moment that I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is bad.’”

Winona Ryder in 2024 (Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the interview, Ryder recalled “completely falling in love” with Al Pacino after he took her on a tour of New York’s coffee shops when she was 22.

Last year, the actor explained why she is bothered by so many young child stars today – and why she grew so fond of Ortega, who leads the Netflix hit Wednesday.

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Ryder will next be seen in the last ever season of Stranger Things, which is finally arriving on Netflix later this year, following a lengthy hiatus.