Winona Ryder reveals her parents feared she would end up like Judy Garland

Her family moved from San Francisco, where they were deeply involved in the free-thinking intellectual community of Haight-Ashbury, to the rural town of Petaluma when Ryder was 10 years old. There she found herself an outcast who often used her love of ‘film noir’ as a form of escapism.

Ryder’s parents eventually enrolled her in classes at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, hoping she would have more like-minded peers.

While growing up in an eclectic household — which seemingly supported her interests in film and acting — she confessed that her parents still had reservations about working in Hollywood.

After she was admitted to the conservatory – whose alumni include Denzel Washington and Annette Bening – after adapting a monologue from the books of JD Salinger Franny and Zooey. She blossomed quickly and at the age of 13, she won an agent.

Still, her parents implemented strict rules about her budding acting career.

She explained, “But I had to keep up with my grades. I wouldn’t be able to work if it coincided with school. My parents – who are just my best friends – were very wary of Hollywood.

“They associated it with the Judy Garland tragedy, and we never moved there.”

Ryder confessed that not moving to Hollywood “turned out to be such a gift, because I knew a lot of kids who would put up with that.”

She added, “They moved and supported their whole family, and it didn’t work out great. I knew a lot of kids who burned out.”

Thanks to her parents’ guidance, the 52-year-old actress’ career flourished.

Tragically, Garland’s career was avenged by problems with drug and alcohol addiction, which began early in her career.

Garland, who died of an accidental overdose at age 47, said she and other young actors, including Mickey Rooney, were prescribed amphetamines in the late 1930s and early 1940s to stay awake and make back-to-back films for MGM. can film.

She said they were also prescribed barbiturates to help them fall asleep. The Wizard of Oz star attributed the constant use of uppers and downers at a young age to her lifelong struggle with substance abuse.

However, Rooney denied he was ever pushed into prescription pills by studio heads.

He said, “Judy Garland never received drugs from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Mr. Mayer did not impose anything on Judy. No one on that lot was responsible for Judy Garland’s death. Unfortunately, Judy chose that path.”