<div class="" data-article-body="true"><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Winona Ryder is no stranger to the spotlight — or to grief. On <em>Stranger Things</em>, which premiered on Netflix in 2016, Ryder plays Joyce Byers, a grief-stricken suburban mother coping with the sudden disappearance of her young son, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), in the show’s first season. When it came time to bring Joyce to life, Ryder didn’t need to look far for inspiration — she knew a family that experienced a similar loss.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">While chatting <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/id-kind-of-hate-to-be-22-right-now-winona-ryder-by-tavi-gevinson" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:with Interview magazine;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">with Interview magazine</a> for its winter issue, the <em>Stranger Things </em>actress spoke of a young girl named Polly Klaas, who went missing in Petaluma, Calif., where Ryder was raised.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">“I had this experience when I was in my early twenties: There was a girl from the town that I grew up in,” Ryder said. “Her name was Polly Klaas, and she was kidnapped. I knew her family.”</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Klaas, who was 12 years old, was <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/12-old-abducted-killed-during-110000330.html" data-ylk="slk:kidnapped at knifepoint;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link">kidnapped at knifepoint</a> by a man named Richard Allen, who entered Klaas’s mother’s home during a slumber party on Oct. 1, 1993. Ryder told Interview that, at the time, she was doing “whatever I could to help this family” and keep the story in the news, even offering a $200,000 reward for Klaas’s safe return. But the search for Klaas came to a tragic end two months later, on Dec. 4, 1993, when her body was found buried near Cloverdale, Calif., about 35 miles north of Petaluma.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">“When you’re around that kind of tangible grief, it’s otherworldly,” Ryder said. “She wanted to be an actress, and her favorite book was <em>Little Women</em>, so that was a big reason I did that movie and dedicated it to her.”</p><figure class="relative mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="Actress Winona Ryder offers a $200,000 reward for the safe return of recently abducted 12-year-old Polly Klaas as FBI special agent-in-charge Jim Freeman looks on in Petaluma, Calif., 1993. " loading="lazy" width="960" height="1444" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/bNi21osP5K2GTGjqSUeXsw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTE0NDQ7Y2Y9d2VicA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2025-11/69e3e6c0-c706-11f0-8ff7-00f691b77878"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5"><div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Winona Ryder offers a $200,000 reward for the safe return of Polly Klaas as FBI special agent-in-charge Jim Freeman looks on in Petaluma, Calif., in 1993. (Matt Sumner/AP)</div></figcaption></figure><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Because of her connection to Klaas and how affected she was by her disappearance, Ryder voiced concerns about the <em>Stranger Things </em>plot. She wanted the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, to understand the gravitas of a missing child case and to make sure they handled it with care. Ryder also consulted Klaas’s father, Marc, on how to approach her character.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">“I was actually really freaked out with <em>Stranger Things,</em> because I wanted them to know how f***ing serious that is, and that you can’t use disappearances as a tool to advance — it feels very personal,” she told Interview. “I also talked to Polly’s dad, and a lot of my performance in that first season was connected to him. I worked really, really hard that first season, and then the show took off in a way that I have certainly never been a part of.”</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Ryder added, “I remember having a moment that was really liberating and relieving, when I realized the show was no longer about me.”</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">Season 1 of <em>Stranger Things </em>revolves around Will’s disappearance and the desperate attempts made by his mother, played by Ryder, and his band of friends, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Eleven (<a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/article/millie-bobby-brown-and-david-harbour-embrace-at-stranger-things-premiere-following-bullying-and-harassment-claims-220535107.html" data-ylk="slk:Millie Bobby Brown;cpos:3;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link">Millie Bobby Brown</a>), to find him. In channeling the raw emotions of a parent grieving the loss of a child, it wasn’t long before Ryder grew close to and protective of her young cast.</p><figure class="relative mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="From left, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo in 2016." loading="lazy" width="960" height="640" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="rounded-lg" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/zoVhkrRwJ1OMKPzD3ndJMQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2025-11/69e0d980-c706-11f0-abff-f714d6e2a31c"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5"><div style="max-height:none;overflow:visible">Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo at the premiere of <em>Stranger Things</em> in Los Angeles in 2016. (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic via Getty Images)</div></figcaption></figure><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">“I was watching these kids at this tender age getting enormous attention that would be overwhelming for anybody and feeling really protective and concerned, because I went through it,” Ryder told Interview. “But it wasn’t similar at all, because technology and social media have completely changed everything.”</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">The first volume of the <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/article/when-does-stranger-things-season-5-come-out-on-netflix-release-dates-trailer-cast-episode-titles-and-everything-we-know-so-far-193240615.html" data-ylk="slk:fifth and final chapter of Stranger Things;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link">fifth and final chapter of <em>Stranger Things</em></a><em> </em>debuts on the streamer next week, marking an end to nearly a decade of working with Wolfhard, Matarazzo, McLaughlin, Schnapp and Brown. It’s an emotional thing for Ryder to reconcile, especially given how tightly knit the cast has become.</p><p class="mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words">“I feel like this season I got to spend time with all of them, which was incredibly special. They’re, they’re just … I’ll get emotional … They’re just ... I will always love them forever,” Ryder said during <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="https://x.com/netflix/status/1986627132739756236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1986627132739756236%7Ctwgr%5E6f05fe96f83fe130ade3522d074fbbcddb469850%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftudumext.com%2Fembeds%2FembedWrapper-642024.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:the Stranger Things Day celebration;cpos:5;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">the Stranger Things Day celebration</a> in Los Angeles on Nov. 6.</p></div>

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