The actor who turned Winona Ryder into an emotional wreck: “He made it frightening”
Winona Ryder has worked with her fair share of weirdos and controversial Hollywood figures over the years, with the actor experiencing a rough ride into the industry after being creepily pursued as a teenager by adult producers and directors such as Tim Burton, Jon Cryer and Johnny Depp. However, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and after some time away from the screen after being hounded by the press, Ryder returned to Hollywood with a bang, starring in projects such as Black Swan, The Letter and Star Trek.
However, despite having gained plenty of experience in working with unpredictable men, the actor was surprised by her experiences during the production of her film The Iceman, with one co-star pushing her to the limits.
After working with auteurs such as Jim Jarmusch, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese, Ryder is no stranger to whacky working styles and the demands of flighty creatives, also collaborating with notorious method actors such as Daniel Day-Lewis and Gary Oldman. However, while the challenges on set of Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and her rocky relationship with Johnny Depp are now infamous, there was one lesser-known story that arose when working with Michael Shannon in 2012.
Michael Shannon is a dynamic and devoted performer, with chilling performances in Bug, 99 Homes and My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, known for his flesh-out supporting roles that elevate every project. However, he starred alongside Ryder in Ariel Vromen’s film The Iceman, which follows the true story of Richard Kuklinski, a contract killer and family man. Shannon plays the lead role of the unsettling killer, with Ryder starring as his wife, Deborah.
While the film is not memorable in some aspects, the magnetic cast managed to keep the story afloat, with Shannon fearlessly committing himself to the role in an almost terrifying way. When describing the project, Ryder expressed how simultaneously impressed and scared she was by Shannon’s performance, saying, “He made it frightening sometimes. In one scene, where we argue, and he storms out of the room, the script just says, ‘Michael leaves the room and goes to the garage,’ but when he left the room, he was furious, and he knocked things over and pushed everything off the table. I was honestly scared, and afterwards, I even started crying. It was all unexpected, which made the reaction much more real.”
One of the trademarks of a good actor is being open to surprise, and Shannon’s ability to let go of the scene and be led by intuition is what sets him apart from many performers. While this may have been intimidating for a co-star and very unpredictable, it ultimately creates a convincing performance, and the spark of inspiration can lead you to explore new places.
Ryder’s reaction to this also highlights her emotional vulnerability. She becomes genuinely moved by the stakes of the scene and the tension created in the room. Shannon is so relentless with his work that I would not want to be on the receiving end of even an imagined tantrum, which would understandably rattle anyone, even if pretend.
