Winona Ryder says she still plays poker with Al Pacino

By Lauren Del Fabbro, PA Entertainment Reporter

US actress Winona Ryder has said she still plays poker with Hollywood star Al Pacino and that she once confessed her love to him.

Ryder, 53, is best known for starring in Tim Burton’s 1988 movie Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, along with playing Joyce Byers in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things.

She worked with The Godfather star Pacino, 85, in the films Simone (2002) and Looking For Richard (1996), adding that she was “actively” in love with him.

Ryder, who fronts the September issue of ELLE UK, told the magazine: “I was absolutely in love with Al Pacino when I was working with him.

“We were doing that workshop for Richard III, which I didn’t know was gonna be a movie. I was actively in love with him.

“He was obsessed with coffee, and he would take me all over New York – like, to the weirdest places – to try different coffees. I’m 22, or whatever. Finally, he’s dropping me off wherever I’m staying, and I’m like, ‘I love you, you know. I really am completely in love with you.’ And he was like: ‘Aw, honey, noooo.’

“Then, like 10 years later, I meet his girlfriend, who’s younger than me.

“I still play poker with him sometimes. It’s the best.”

With a career spanning decades, Ryder credits actress Laura Dern for helping her navigate the industry and taking her under her wing.

She said: “I don’t think I’d be here without her. I met her on my first screen test for Lucas – I didn’t know what a screen test was.

“Laura was there to read for the older girl, and she talked me through it, ‘cause I didn’t know what the f*** was going on.

“She befriended me. I was literally 12 and – nobody knows this – she took me under her wing into my twenties. That relationship got me through.”

She is now passing on her own wisdom to the younger cast members on the series Stranger Things.

Ryder said: “I’ve been trying to sort of change this narrative with the kids, because they have it drilled into them that they’re so lucky and, you know, that this show ‘made’ them.

“I’m like: ‘No. Netflix is so lucky. You guys are the special ones. Like, you guys are magic.'”

Ryder is also known for starring in films including Heathers, Edward Scissorhands and Little Women.

The September issue of ELLE UK is on sale from July 31st.