Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice opened up a whole lot of opportunities for Winona Ryder in Hollywood. However, the film almost cost her another critically acclaimed role in her career. Lydia Deetz was a weird character and Ryder had to ditch her looks to transform into the character. When she met with the makers of Heathers in the new look, they did not initially want her in the role.
She was eventually able to convince them and star as Veronica Sawyer in the film. Beetlejuice was a critical and commercial success, even winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup. While Heathers failed at the box office, it went on to become a cult-classic dark comedy film.
Beetlejuice Almost Cost Winona Ryder Her Role In Heathers
Daniel Waters wrote Heathers as a spec script and intended to contrast the more positive films that came out during this era. Beetlejuice writer Michael McDowell came across the script and slipped it to Winona Ryder who was impressed with the unique premise.
Ryder shared with Harper’s Bazaar that Waters’ spec script was going around secretly and she had the opportunity to be brought into it early on. She went to meet the makers of the film, who didn’t think she was pretty enough for the role. Ryder shared that she was still carrying the weird girl look from Beetlejuice, which almost cost her the role.
She immediately went across the street to Macy’s to get a makeover and returned to them again. She said to them that they don’t even have to pay her anything for the role. She eventually landed the role of Veronica Sawyer in the film. The Stranger Things actress shared with Harper’s Bazaar:
I’d been slipped the script by Michael McDowell who wrote Beetle Juice and was a friend. [Heathers] was such a brilliant script. It was sort of going around secretly, so to get slipped that early on was great. I went in and I met and they didn’t think I was pretty enough. I was sort of the weird girl from Beetlejuice.
I went across the street to the Beverly Center and I went to Macy’s and I had them do like a makeover on me. Then I went back and I was like, ‘You don’t have to pay me. I just want to say these words.’ I think they almost took me up on that.
Winona Ryder believed that Heathers was a masterpiece in every sense. She shared that it was a revolutionary film that showed “teenagers were a lot more complex in good ways and terrible ways.” She also shared that even though the film received critical acclaim, no one saw it in theaters.
She recalled that she and Christian Slater were met with protesters when they were touring to promote the film. However, she was happy that the film attained a seminal status and praised Waters who created a “new language” in films.
The Response To Heathers Changed Over The Years
Winona Ryder’s Heathers was not the most popular movie among movie-goers when it was released in 1989. Several critics bashed the film for its depiction of violence and teenage suicide themes. While admitting that the film was able to start a conversation, Roger Ebert shared in his review that the “cynical morality play” did not help the film in getting its message across.
However, the film received more positive retrospective reviews, with people actually seeing what Waters’ vision was. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes read that the film “gently applies a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie”. The film found a place in EW‘s 25 essential cult films and was regarded as one of the greatest coming-of-age films.
Heathers earned a total of $1.1 million against a total budget of $3 million (via Box Office Mojo). The film is now available for streaming on Prime Video and Starz.
