Winona Ryder provided 1980s fact checks on Stranger Things and even got script changes for period accuracy: ‘It’s just kind of epic how wild her mind is’
She became a movie star in the 1980s.
And Winona Ryder brought her expertise of the decade to her smash hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which is set in the Reagan era.
Her co-star David Harbour told Harper’s Bazaar that Winona had an encyclopedic knowledge of the ‘minute, tiny details’ of the period and even managed to secure some script changes for the sake of accuracy.
She became a movie star in the 1980s: And Winona Ryder brought her expertise of the decade to her smash hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which is set in the Reagan era
Stranger Things was created by the Duffer Brothers, a pair of identical twins who were born the day after Valentine’s Day in 1984.
Winona on the other hand was a teenager throughout much of the 1980s, during which she shot to fame in such movies as Beetlejuice and Heathers.
David revealed that she was able to use her memories of the period to correct the creators and writers whenever they made a mistake.
‘It’s just kind of epic how wild her mind is and how it goes to all these different corners,’ the heartthrob gushed.
As seen on the show: Her co-star David Harbour told Harper’s Bazaar that Winona had an encyclopedic knowledge of the ‘minute, tiny details’ of the period
Concerned parent: ‘She’d tell them: “This song actually came out in ’85, and you have it in ’83,”‘ he recalled of Winona, who plays the mother of Noah Schnapp’s character
‘She’d tell them: “This song actually came out in ’85, and you have it in ’83,”‘ he recalled. ‘She knew all of these minute, tiny details they didn’t even know, and they had to change things in the script based on that.’
In the same profile Winona recalled her childhood years in the Bay Area, which her family moved to in the early 1980s when she was 10 years old.
She described being ‘in heaven’ when her mother would project old films onto a sheet she draped over the side of their barn.
Winona recalled that ‘I used to put the strap of my book bag across my forehead. I’d sort of walk and force myself to see things in black and white, like a movie.’
Rise to stardom: Winona on the other hand was a teenager throughout much of the 1980s, during which she shot to fame in such movies as Beetlejuice (pictured)
Dynamic duo: Winona is pictured with Christian Slater in the dark high school comedy Heathers, one of her most beloved pictures of the 1980s
Said she: ‘I created this whole kind of fantasy world. There was an old theater I loved, and I used to fantasize about living there. Like, ripping out the seats and having a bed and a bathtub and a bike and watching movies all the time.’
Stranger Things follows the residents of a small made-up Indiana town in the 1980s where bizarre supernatural events begin to take place, causing a boy to vanish.
Winona features on the show as Joyce Byers, the mother of the boy who goes missing, Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp.
Part one of Stranger Things’ fourth season dropped on Netflix last month, with part two to follow on July 1 and a fifth and final season afterwards.
Back in the spotlight: David’s complimentary remarks about Winona were included in the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar, which she has covered