Winona Ryder Lost a Movie with Marlon Brando for Starring in ‘Heathers’ & She’d Do It Again
Beetlejuice’s actress says she would rather lose her entire career than betray her beloved 1989 teen dark comedy, and the movie’s fans understand why.
Having recently reprised her role in Tim Burton’s sequel for Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder has had plenty of roles to be proud of, but the one she cherishes the most is also the one that cost her a Marlon Brando movie.
Just a couple of years after becoming the star of the moment thanks to 1988’s Beetlejuice, the actress went on to even bigger heights when she landed one of the leading roles in the 1990 crime comedy drama The Freshman, potentially starring opposite cinema giants like The Godfather’s Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick.
However, Ryder’s enthusiasm was never meant to last after the movie’s creators saw her in a controversial teen drama.
Winona Ryder Says ‘The Freshman’ Creators Were “Deeply Offended” by ‘Heathers’
- On Rotten Tomatoes, Heathers has scores of 95% and 83% from critics and viewers
- On IMDb, the movie is rated 7.1/10
The movie that was originally written for Stanley Kubrick to direct, Heathers stars Winona Ryder as Veronica, a part of her school’s most popular group which, however, is notorious for its members’ cruel behaviour.
When one of the girls is accidentally poisoned by Veronica and her boyfriend, they make it look like a suicide. However, the former soon starts suspecting her beau of intentionally killing students of their school.
Despite gaining a cult classic status with time, Heathers remained a pretty controversial movie for several years after its release, so it played out quite badly for Ryder’s next role in The Freshman.
“They thought it was making fun of teen suicide. They were deeply offended and, yeah, they revoked the offer”, the actress recently revealed in a new interview with Elle UK.
However, Heathers was just too precious for Ryder to ever renounce it, so she and The Freshman parted ways quite soon and without much regret.
“I had to stand my ground. I wasn’t gonna apologize. I never turn off Heathers if it’s on. I know it basically by heart”, she added.
‘Heathers’ Fans Cheer Winona Ryder For Making “the Right Call”
Even though it did seem like the movie would put a big question mark on the actress’ future career, Ryder’s fans are reassured that Heathers, with all its controversial background, still turned out to be the best of what the actress had in her early years in the industry.
As the news emerged, many acknowledged that the movie had gained cult following years after the release while Marlon Brando’s The Freshman was nowhere near it.
“Never watched The Freshman, but I’ve watched Heathers”, Redditor chchchchips pointed out in a thread.
“Heathers launched her career. That crappy movie with Brando would have likely ruined her career”, battleofflowers added.
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“She made the right choice. I’m not even familiar with The Freshman, meanwhile Heathers is a cult classic”, truej42 agreed.
“I’m glad she risked her career. Heathers isn’t just entertaining and quotable, it’s a real work of art”, RuRhPdOsIrPt chimed in.
“The Freshman sidelined Matthew Broderick’a career for years. She made the right call”, malemysteries commented.
