Hollyscoop: Yes! Director Michael Polish said he “definitely stalked” Winona Ryder, but he says, “I don’t think it’s stalking if you’re making movies. I would not do anything to scare her.”

Michael spoke exclusively with Hollyscoop. com at The Tribeca Film Festival where his latest film Staying Cool premiered over the weekend. He said when he and his brother Mark Polish wrote the movie they “pinpointed Winona for it.”

“We wanted her because she is the icon for us from the 80s. She is the same age as us. She is the girlfriend,” Michael told Hollyscoop exclusively. “We knew we had friends in common, make up artists and costume designers, and I knew she liked Twin Falls Idaho so we sent her the script.”

Jokingly, Michael said that he then “stood outside her door for four days.” Though, he did go to an extreme measure. He asked Winona “you want to watch Some Kind of Wonderful with me” and then they “watched it four times in her house.”

Four times ? Now that does sound a little stalker crazy but Michael explains, “It’s a great high school movie about a love triangle. We talked about the characters in the movie, but I think she had made up her mind already (about being in the movie) or I would not be in her house.”

Wow! That is an interesting way to cast a film, but it seems appropriate since Staying Cool is about a successful author, played by Mark Polish, who faces his high school crush when he returns to make a speech at his Alma Mater. The film also stars Hilary Duff, Sean Astin, and Chevy Chase.