Winona Ryder Opens Up About Aging Gracefully in Hollywood: ‘My Career Has Definitely Shifted’

She was just a teen when she broke out in movies like 1986’s Lucas and Beetlejuice in 1988. “I started my career as the youngest, and I always wanted to be old,” Winona Ryder told the new issue of Elle.

Now 53, the two-time Oscar nominee is finding aging to be difficult in Hollywood. “Every role I get is for a mother, you know? My career has definitely shifted.” (She returns as Will Byer’s mom in season 5 of Netflix’s Stranger Things this fall.)

Lately, she revealed that directors have even been hinting that she should get Botox to smooth her face — something which she told the mag would hinder her art. “They’ll say, ‘Just relax your forehead. Relax.’ I’m trying to be a great actor, and they’re saying that over and over.”

Revealing that Laura Dern, 58, took her under her wing when she was first starting out, Winona said she tries to do the same for younger actors now.

“What’s weird is when you’re surrounded by young women getting weird s**t done,” she said, referencing such procedures as buccal-fat removal to sculpt cheeks. “I thought they were kidding. I want to say, like, ‘In 10 years, you’re gonna want that back!’”