Winona Ryder: Angelina Jolie battled her beauty, conquered it

Winona Ryder wants everyone to know she could have won the Oscar for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted, but she chose not to, handing the award off to Angelina Jolie. Winona doesn’t actually say that, she just kind of insinuates it, in a nice way. This comes from an interview Winona did with Empire Magazine (story via US Weekly). About the film that won Angelina her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Lisa, the sociopath, Winona says that “At one point they asked if I wanted to play Lisa and I said, ‘No, I want to be Susanna.'” Susanna being the lead character, Susanna Kaysen.

Winona also claims that she knew that “whoever” played Lisa would get the attention, because it was such a meaty, dynamic role. I actually buy that – Winona was not only the star who made sure the film got made, Winona was the executive producer. She knew any publicity, any award for the film would be good, so seemed very gracious towards Angelina at the time, and now. Winona also says she bad for Angelina because Angie “was battling her looks because she’s so beautiful… She wanted very much to be taken seriously and not just judged on her looks. And she conquered that.”

Winona Ryder says she has no ill-will toward Angelina Jolie, who received most of the praise for their 1999 mental hospital drama Girl, Interrupted.

Although Ryder was the film’s lead (and executive producer), Jolie’s performance garnered more buzz and landed her a 1999 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

“I knew from the outset that whoever played Lisa was going to get all the attention,” Ryder tells the July issue of Empire Magazine. “At one point they asked if I wanted to play Lisa and I said, ‘No, I want to be Susanna.'”

“But there was no resentment,” Ryder went on. “When it came out, people almost felt bad for me. But I expected it all along. I was really happy with the film, and really proud of it.”

If anything, Ryder said she felt bad for Jolie.

“At the time I worked with her, she was battling her looks because she’s so beautiful,” she said. “She wanted very much to be taken seriously and not just judged on her looks. And she conquered that.”

Ryder also confirmed a sequel is in the works to her 1988 cult film Heathers.

“Whatever you hear, there is a sequel in the works. I swear to God,” she told the magazine. “But for some reason the writer Dan Waters and director Michael Lehman don’t want to talk about it. I’ve been wanting to do a sequel forever. There is a story, and Christian [Slater] has agreed to come back as a kind of Obi-Wan character.”

[From US Weekly]

What is with all of these women who think beauty is something horrible to be overcome professionally? There’s been a rash of it recently, as if it’s the new thing to say in interviews, “Oh, I wasn’t hired because I’m so gorgeous” or “Every producer tells me I’m not plain enough to play this part, woe is me.” Beauty really isn’t a curse, no matter what all of those pretty girls tell you. They love being beautiful. They’re just trying to make everyone else feel better.

I don’t even get the “she was too beautiful” argument about Angelina during that period of her life, either. During that time (let’s call it the end of The Drug Years), Angelina wasn’t so gorgeous. She looked strung out most of the time – it worked well for her character in Girl, Interrupted, but for a few years, the girl looked rough. Whoops, I mean, “acting”.

Thanks to AllMoviePhoto for these pictures from Girl, Interrupted.

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