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“The devil is an abusive tool used to discipline children,” insists Ryder adding that “adults find it convenient to blame the devil for things they do.”

Ryder exorcised the devil from her life at a young age.

“My father is an atheist. My mother is Buddhist. They encouraged my siblings (Yuri, Sunyata and Jubal) and me to take the best part of other religions to make our own belief system .“

“I still practise Buddhism to a certain extent and I believe in karma.”

Ryder was forced to examine her spiritual side when she agreed to star in Lost Souls, the supernatural thriller that opens Friday. She plays Maya Larkin, a staunch Catholic who was possessed by demons. A great deal of faith and a determined exorcist released her from the torment of the demons. Maya has made it her mission to help others wrench their souls from the grip of Satan.

“Playing someone who is devoutly religious was a huge challenge for me and, in particular, playing someone who is Christian.“

“I found it far more fascinating than I thought I would. As part of my research, I read the Bible for the first time. I found it so very beautiful.”

Ryder also spoke to Father James Lebar, a Catholic priest in New York who has performed numerous exorcisms.

“Father Lebar was the first priest I ever had a real conversation with. I was surprised by his honesty and sincerity. He agreed that many people who think they are possessed are severe schizophrenics or suffer other severe mental disorders.“

“But he did not discount the real possibility of demonic possession and I respect him for that. ”

Ryder was shocked by some of the cases Lebar related to her. He even allowed her to view some tapes of his exorcisms.

“It’s terrifying to see what the human body is capable of. In their states of delusion, people can contort their body and even break their bones.”

What struck Ryder the most was that “many of these people are young girls.“

“They’ve lost their minds completely and my greatest fear has always been of losing my mind.”

“The terrifying thing about talking with Father Lebar and watching the tapes was not that there was some entity making these people do this but that they did it to themselves. ”

Ryder shot Lost Souls just before she started work on her pet project Girl, Interrupted.

She admits she “took a lot of what I saw and learned from my research for Lost Souls with me to Girl, Interrupted.”

Lost Souls marks the directing debut of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a longtime collaborator of Steven Spielberg. Kaminski received Oscars for his work on Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan and is currently working with Spielberg on A.I.
Kaminski met Ryder when he shot her 1995 movie How To Make An American Quilt. Meg Ryan developed Lost Souls as a project for her Prufrock production company and as a possible vehicle for herself. When Ryan passed on playing Maya, Kaminski approached Ryder.

“We’ve seen Winona play romantic, sweet and vulnerable. I wanted to give her the opportunity to be haunted and more mature,” says Kaminski, “I saw glimpses of these qualities in her performance in The Crucible.”

Kaminski feels Ryder was ” brave to venture into this kind of genre film. There is a real stigma attached to these horror movies. That’s why actors traditionally shy away from them. ”

Ryder says the fact Lost Souls is a horror film is what appealed most to her.

“It’s a complete genre movie and it’s something I haven’t done. It’s like The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen in that it relies on suspense rather than gore. It’s like the old movies that frightened me. You feel the presence of the monster rather than see it.”

Lost Souls was scheduled to open last fall but found its thunder preempted by The Sixth Sense, Stigmata and Stir of Echoes. Now it is being released while The Exorcist is in theatres.

“No one can touch The Exorcist. It and The Shining are the grandfathers of all scary movies,” says Ryder, “What we hope is that The Exorcist will whet viewers’ appetites for more supernatural thrills and they’ll come to check us out.”

With Girl, Interrupted, Autumn in New York and Lost Souls, Ryder has had three films out in less than 12 months and she feels that’s at least two too many.

“From now on, I want to do maybe one movie a year if even that. I feel there is a tendency toward overexposure. I think it’s refreshing when you don’t see the same actors all the time. I know there are some people I don’t want to see for a while and I don’t want to become one those actors myself.“

Interview by the Calgary Sun

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