BEVERLY HILLS -- Winona Ryder hit the movie scene in 1986 in "Lucas." She spent the rest of the '80s and '90s working constantly. Then she slowed down after a few bouts with exhaustion, and since 2000, Ryder has made few movies.
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The actress, 34, this year stars in "A Scanner Darkly," which opens July 14, and "The Darwin Awards," is filming "Sex and Death 101" and then will do "Alpha Numeric," both for 2007.
"I haven't slept yet; I came here from work," Ryder said in a news conference in a Beverly Hills hotel. "The movie ('Sex and Death') is by the guy who wrote 'Heathers,' and I play Death."
"A Scanner Darkly" is based on Phillip K. Dick's novel, set in the near future and based on the United States' endless war on terror and drugs. The movie is rotoscoped, an animation process in which artists digitally paint over each frame of live-action film, which gives it an uneasy, otherworldly feel. In the film, Keanu Reeves plays undercover police officer Bob Arctor, who has been ordered to spy on his friends and finally on himself, because not even the police knows his true identity.
Ryder plays Donna Hawthorne, Arctor's mysterious girlfriend.
Seated at a table with co-star Reeves and director and screenwriter Richard Linklater, Ryder huddled in her chair, sipping coffee as she talked about her movies.
When asked why she decided to do "A Scanner Darkly," she smiled and pointed to Reeves.
"This guy right here," she said, making Reeves smile. "I'd do anything with him."
She and Reeves starred in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" in 1992.
Ryder's conversation then turns to the costumes she wore in the film "Dracula," giving a glimpse of the chemistry between her and Reeves.
Ryder: "Those dresses nearly killed me."
Reeves: "Are you kidding? Those costumes were fantastic!"
Ryder: "They hurt."
Reeves, smiling: "Oh yeah, you were bound and gagged, and oh, corseted."
Ryder: "Yeah, I had a foot in the middle of my back pulling those corset strings."
Reeves: "Well, from my perspective, you looked good. That's suffering for your art."
Ryder: "Yes, it was."
Ryder pointed out she also had worked with co-star Robert Downey Jr. in "1969."
"He played my brother in this movie a long time ago, so it was great to have him around. He made me feel really safe.
"Keanu helped me especially with the material, because it was very challenging," Ryder said. "I felt like we were making this movie forever. I didn't know if I'd ever fully grasp the part. I was really scared, and Keanu was there for me."
Reeves said that Ryder's part was difficult because she played multiple roles, had to figure out the concept of who she was and how she'd play the material.
"Bless you," Ryder said to Reeves. "I didn't want to give anything away, but it was hard to do."
The actress confessed she didn't know what rotoscoping was at first, but it wasn't a big hurdle for her. She admired Linklater's previous work using the method.
"'Waking Life' is one of my five top favorite movies of all time," she said, referring to Linklater's 2001 film. "In that, I felt like the performances came though with so much subtlety, I knew this movie would be that times a thousand."
"I think Phillip K. Dick was really, really on the money when he wrote this. It's amazing what he predicted. And, to me, I just think it's a terrifying time right now in this country and in the world," she said. "And, to have such a personal love story for me in the movie that is wrapped within my identity, that is so rare."
As the interview wound down, Ryder mentioned she has been working for the Board of American Indian Scholarship College Funds for 12 years.
"Why? Well, it's kind of personal. I just really love the culture, and I'm trying to help to preserve it, because it's fading, and I'm always been drawn to it," she said. "And, I'd like to see more tribal schools and colleges to encourage the language and the culture."
Editor's Note: Travel and accommodations were paid for by Warner Independent Pictures.
