The moment Jason Robards took Winona Ryder under his wing: “It was insane”
Regardless of your own greatness, there are many actors who seek the wisdom of other people in the business, looking up to those who have trodden the same path to fame and navigated the choppy waters of Hollywood. Whether it be Ryan Gosling’s unlikely friendship with Harrison Ford or Kristen Stewart and the influence of Jodie Foster, many young actors have been influenced by their co-stars and the work of other people in the business, leading them to hone their own craft and personal taste in film. Despite being one of the most influential actors within independent cinema, working with auteurs like Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders and Tim Burton, Winona Ryder is also a ferocious cinephile, describing her endless love for the medium and the way it has inspired her work.
Even though she has worked with some of the greatest actors of our time, she has described the crucial influence of one performer in particular and how she was taken under their wing during the beginning of her career.
Ryder has accumulated an impressive range of credits over the years, ranging from her roles in period pieces like The Age of Innocence and Little Women to gothic dramas like Edward Scissorhands and Heathers. But perhaps what marks her above other performers is her genuine love for filmmaking and insatiable desire to engage with every corner of cinema, enhancing her understanding of storytelling and adding richness to her work. While there are some actors who proudly proclaim that they never watch films, Ryder could not be further from this unfortunate creed of people, with film becoming her own form of religion.
It was perhaps this avid relationship with the art form that led her to be invited into the inner circle of Hollywood legends, with the actor being introduced to Jason Robards on her second film, Square Dance.
Robards is known for his stellar work on films like Magnolia, All the Presidents Men and Once Upon a Time in the West, being critically acclaimed across all major festivals and award circuits for his work. While many young actors would be intimidated by working with Hollywood heavyweights, Ryder used it as an opportunity to learn from the actors, with Robards becoming a mentor-type figure to her.
When discussing their relationship, Ryder described Robards as, “My mentor… he would have these dinner parties and invite me. It was, like, Elizabeth Taylor, Karl Malden, Jessica Tandy, Sidney Poitier. It was insane. That was my drugs. Getting to talk to them.”
The ability to speak to people of this level as a teenager would undoubtedly be influential, creatively nourishing Ryder as she learned from people who had experienced all sides of the industry and changed the landscape of cinema for the better.
While she was still new to the business, Ryder reached new heights of fame just a year later, exploding to stardom and becoming one of the biggest ‘it’ girls of the 80’s and 90’s. Her later career can be defined by a more mature taste in cinema that led her to take on roles that were beyond her years, remaining as one of the most fearless and undaunted performers of her generation.
