Winona Ryder Shares the Heartfelt Story Behind Her Little Women Role and Its Connection to Stranger Things

Winona Ryder in "Little Women" (left) and "Stranger Things".
Credit: Di Novi/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Netflix

Need to Know

• Winona Ryder tapped into genuine emotion while portraying a distressed parent.
• Reflecting on her roles in Beetlejuice and Stranger Things, Ryder recalled a traumatic event from her childhood in Petaluma, California.
• The 1993 abduction of Polly Klaas has left a lasting impact on the actress.

In a recent interview, Winona Ryder spoke about the influence of real-life events on her career as an actress. During a conversation with Interview magazine, the 54-year-old reflected on her experience as a young adult when tragedy struck in her hometown.

"I had this experience when I was in my early twenties: there was a girl from the town that I grew up in. Her name was Polly Klaas, and she was kidnapped. I knew her family," Ryder shared. The heartbreaking circumstances surrounding Klaas’ case have continued to resonate with her throughout the years.

"She was missing for two months, and very tragically, she had been killed. I was doing whatever I could to help this family, to keep it in the news. When you’re around that kind of tangible grief, it’s otherworldly," she explained.

Ryder’s dedication to raising awareness about this heartbreaking situation influenced her career choices significantly. "She wanted to be an actress, and her favorite book was Little Women, so that was a big reason I did that movie and dedicated it to her," she said. In the 1994 adaptation of the classic novel, she played Jo March just a year after Klaas’s abduction.

To further highlight the issue, Ryder offered a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for Klaas’s death, utilizing her platform to advocate for the family.

The emotional complexity of Klaas’s disappearance resurfaced when she began work on Stranger Things. "I was actually really freaked out with Stranger Things because I wanted them to know how f—ing serious that is, and that you can’t use disappearances as a tool to advance—it feels very personal," Ryder stated.

She also revealed a personal connection during her preparation, stating, "I also talked to Polly’s dad, and a lot of my performance in that first season was connected to him. I worked really, really hard that first season, and then the show took off in a way that I have certainly never been a part of. I remember having a moment that was really liberating and relieving when I realized the show was no longer about me."