The real reason Winona Ryder and Gwyneth Paltrow entered into one of Hollywood’s most bitter feuds
Many ridiculous Hollywood myths and feuds have sparked endless news headlines and conversations over the years, with Winona Ryder and Gwyneth Paltrow becoming embroiled in a bizarre rivalry that unfolded during their shared ascent up the industry ladder.
In the 1990s, the pair reigned over Hollywood as two of its brightest young stars after a series of successes with projects like Seven, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and Emma. Both actors were seen together at numerous parties and events and quickly became good friends, at least until 1998, when an alleged incident took place that ruined their friendship.
At the time, Ryder was being considered for the role of Viola de Lesseps in John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love, a role which later went to Paltrow and famously won her the Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’. Legend has it that Paltrow was hanging out at Ryder’s house when she noticed the script for the film lying on a table.
The truth of the matter remains unclear, with conflicting reports suggesting that Paltrow either stole the script from her opposite number’s home or contacted her agent about getting the role for herself once she perused the screenplay, but the outcome remained the same.
What can’t be argued is that Ryder was under consideration to play the female lead in Shakespeare in Love, but once Paltrow stole a march and secured the gig for herself, it took her to the very top of the industry when she took to the stage and tearfully collected her Oscar.
It can’t be a coincidence that shortly after Shakespeare in Love conquered the Oscars, despite its current reputation as one of the least-deserving ‘Best Picture’ winners ever, Ryder and Paltrow were no longer being spotted in public together or hanging out in their spare time, as had regularly been the case beforehand.
Paltrow was even confronted head-on about the source of her rift with Ryder, which she brushed off as “an urban myth” that didn’t have any basis in reality. And yet, when she referred in one of her newsletters to a “frenemy” whose downfall she’d enjoyed watching, it was interpreted as a reference to Ryder’s shoplifting scandal, which did huge damage to her career.
Would things have turned out differently if Ryder had been crying buckets while picking up an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love? Who’s to say, but it would have solidified her as one of the industry’s elite-level talents, a reputation she was well on the way to securing throughout the decade as it was.
Nobody may ever know what happened on that ill-fated day inside Ryder’s LA home, but it can be deduced that something disturbed their friendship. Behind closed doors, there may be another story entirely, but the alleged theft of the script of Shakespeare in Love easily earns the tension between them the distinction of being one of Hollywood’s weirdest squabbles.
