WINONA RYDER

Ahead of the launch of season one, Winona sat down with SFX to talk about Stand By Me, life on set and suspenseful Stranger Things scripts

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How did the Duffer Brothers set the tone on the set of Stranger Things?

They have a really infectious enthusiasm, as well as a real genuine love of films of the '80s and the '70s. I know it's been said before, this whole thing about the show being a love letter to those movies, but they really, truly did want to make it like an homage rather than just rip them off. There is a fine line.

I haven't seen the whole thing, but I think they were successful in having their own vision about being heavily influenced by all of those wonderful movies like Stand By Me and Close Encounters. It really is an homage to that time.

What are the challenges of shooting a show like this?

As you get older, you want to try new things. Well, this gave me an opportunity to play my age. It was challenging because it was quite emotional at times. To have to play that level of emotion on a daily basis wasn't easy. It was also challenging for me because I'd never done a series before. I did [HBO drama] Show Me A Hero, but I only had a small role.

How would you describe the atmosphere on set?

I really appreciated how sensitive the directors were to the fact that I had to get quite emotional. After the first few days of crying a lot, I was nervous that they were going to think that I could just do it like that [snaps fingers]. I'm allergic to the stuff that they blow [in your eyes to help produce tears], so I have to actually really cry - and sometimes you need a minute to do that.