WINONA ONLINE News Library

Not long after you meet Winona Ryder, she shares a confidence. “See these two front teeth?” she asks, touching the overlapping teeth with a forefinger. “I used to hate it!” she says with feeling. “Then I saw June Allyson in an old movie on TV. We have the same tooth problem, and she looked so beautiful! If it wasn’t for her, I probably would have had it fixed. A couple of years ago I was at a film festival in Utah with my movie Square Dance, and I saw Allyson in a restaurant. That made the trip! I nearly passed out from excitement.

Winona Ryder makes me feel like I need to grow up. And the girl’s only 17. It’s not that I’m that immature, it’s just that she’s so centered and articulate and serious about being a good actress. The star of 1969 and Beetlejuice is sitting behind a desk at her press agent’s office in baggy khakis, a blue blazer and a T-shirt that says “What a Waste. Oh, the Humanity.” (Its got something to do with Heathers, the movie she’s just finished filming.)