Winona Ryder has spoken about her infamous shoplifting conviction in 2001.
The actress, who is currently appearing in sci-fi Netflix drama Stranger Things, was convicted of attempting to steal items amounting to $5,500 (£4,100) from Beverly Hills department store Saks Fifth Avenue.
She has now said she was going a difficult period obtaining film roles after having so much success with films like Beetle Juice, Edward Scissorhands, Mermaids and Little Women.
“Psychologically, I must have been at a place where I just wanted to stop,” she told Porter magazine. “I won’t get into what happened, but it wasn’t what people think. And it wasn’t like the crime of the century! But it allowed me time that I really needed, where I went back to San Francisco and got back into things that… I just had other interests, frankly.
READ MORE: Winona Ryder’s Guide To New Netflix Show ‘Stranger Things’
Netflix“People associated me with the 1990s and I wasn’t that anymore,” she explained. “And they didn’t really buy me as my age. It’s that line in First Wives Club: ‘There are three ages for women: babe, district attorney and Driving Miss Daisy!’ I just never got to play that district attorney.”
After taking a few years off following her conviction, Ryder said she returned to acting with a new sense of passion and purpose.
“You can’t do something for that long and hate it!” she added. “Acting still excites me. I don’t sleep the day before a new job. I’m sure it’s psychosomatic but still.”
Ryder recently gave her blessing to a potential sequel for 80s cult classic Beetlejuice.
A follow-up to the 1988 movie has been mooted for some years. Ryder, who played the role of Lydia Deetz in the original, said that a second Beetlejuice film “would be great if it happened” in a recent interview.
“I don’t really know what’s going on with that. Obviously, it was an iconic film. The only way it could really ever be done is with Tim [Burton] and Michael [Keaton],” she said. “I don’t know. There’s something that really resonates with all ages, with that film. It’s interesting. I think it would be great if it happened, if it was the right circumstances.
