Winona Ryder Talks “Overwhelming” Return to the Spotlight

Life in the spotlight isn’t always easy — just ask actress Winona Ryder! In a new interview, the 45-year-old Stranger Things star opened up about what it was like to find fame again.

“It’s so overwhelming. I don’t know what it’s like for really famous people. I keep hearing that people are dressing up like me [Joyce Byers]. I’m like, ‘What?'” she told Marie Claire. On the hit Netflix series, Winona plays Joyce Byers, the mother of Jonathan Byers [played by Charlie Heaton] — a little boy who mysteriously goes missing. She also explained to the publication how she turned to her own mother for advice on this role.

“I said, ‘Mom, if every bit of logic is telling you your kid is gone, would you still [refuse to believe it]?’ And she said, ‘Absolutely,'” she explained. “I said, ‘What if they show you a body?’ She said, ‘If you don’t see it happen, you don’t believe it.’ It’s a weird, primal thing. But I may have gone too far. It seemed like every day I was crying or freaking out.”

Fans may recall that back in the day, Winona appeared in hit movies like Beetlejuice, Heathers, and Reality Bites. Aside from Stranger Things, she appeared in 2015’s mini-series Show Me a Hero and she is set to play Lindsay in the upcoming flick Destination Wedding. Stranger Things — which returns to the streaming service for Season 2 on Friday, Oct. 27 — received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series back in January.

When it comes to her hiatus, Winona — who has been in a relationship with Scott Mackinlay Hahn since 2011 — explained, “I did take time off. It was mutual, I think. I just went through a tough time.”