RYDING HIGH Troubled star Winona Ryder makes unlikely comeback in Stranger Things after drug and theft scandals that shocked Hollywood

Actress earns rave reviews for Netflix series Stranger Things and hopefully she's back for good

TWENTY years ago Winona Ryder was an A-list superstar making millions in the movies, dating the hottest Hollywood hunks and ­dazzling on the red carpet.

After finding fame with offbeat Eighties hits Beetlejuice and Heathers, she won critical acclaim for her performances in Mermaids, Edward Scissorhands and The Age Of Innocence.

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Ryding high  . . . Winona is earning rave reviews after comeback

She showed her versatility by turning action hero in 1997’s Alien: Resurrection opposite Sigourney Weaver.

But when Winona was arrested for shoplifting in 2001, having taken a cocktail of illegally procured prescription drugs, her world fell apart.

Relationships cracked, her mental health suffered and Hollywood gave her the cold shoulder.

Now, thanks to her starring role in the must-see telly smash Stranger Things, Winona is back on top.

The eerie Netflix series, inspired by Eighties classics such as ET and The Goonies, stars Winona as single mum Joyce Byers, whose son Will has gone missing in bizarre circumstances.

Fans and critics alike agree the part is perfect for her.

The 44-year-old, who was raised in a commune without a TV, made her big-screen debut in 1986 aged 15 when she was cast in Lucas opposite Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen.

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1990 . . . starring with former fiancé Depp in Edward Scissorhands

Then came gothic comedy Beetlejuice, followed by cult hit Heathers.

By 1990 she was the belle of Hollywood, with Edward Scissorhands co-star Johnny Depp on her arm.

They were soon engaged and he famously got a tattoo reading “Winona Forever”.

After a painful public split, he had it changed to “Wino Forever” and moved on to model Kate Moss.

Winona was hit hard. She called it her “first real break-up, the first heartbreak”.

She pulled out of The Godfather Part III citing exhaustion, signalling the start of a spiralling depression that would continue to haunt her.

She said: “It was really ironic because everybody else thought I had everything in the world.

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1998 . . . pally with Gwyneth Paltrow

“I had no reason to be depressed. Everything was sort of at its peak but inside I was completely lost.”

High-profile romances followed with Soul Asylum rocker Dave Pirner and movie superstar Matt Damon, while she picked up Oscar nominations for turns in The Age Of Innocence and Little Women.

But she won neither and was humiliated in 1999 when her former flatmate Gwyneth Paltrow won the Best Actress Oscar for Shakespeare In Love.

Rumours persisted that Winona had been offered the part — but that Paltrow found the script sent to Winona and quietly sought out producers to bag the role.

The pair had been best friends and while Winona was dating Matt Damon, Gwyneth was seeing his buddy Ben Affleck.

Their feud ­deepened when Gwyneth wrote a blog about an unnamed “frenemy” that many took to be Winona.

That year, Winona took on the pet project of Girl, Interrupted which she executive-produced and starred in.

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2000 . . . dating Hollywood big hitter Matt Damon

Based on a true story, Winona’s character has a nervous breakdown, overdoses on pills and checks into a psychiatric hospital.

Winona cut her hair short and talked fearlessly about her battles with mental illness, confessing in one chatshow: “I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy — and I felt like I was going crazy.

“I was really freaking out. I was scared I might do something stupid.

“I wasn’t thinking of suicide in that way but I was getting thoughts like, ‘I don’t want to be here any more’.

“The only thing they offered was a room and a bed. They put me on a psychiatric ward.”

The movie industry’s reaction was swift and brutal.

n — won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Supporting Actress, while Winona received nothing.

For the troubled star, the role and subsequent fallout merely cemented her ­unpredictable reputation.

She later said: “By doing that, maybe coupled with my physical size, there’s this ‘crazy’ thing. I’ve realised recently it’s impossible to try to change that story.”

Yet her lowest point was still to come. Her arrest in December 2001 for shoplifting knocked the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the aftermath of 9/11 off the front pages.

Winona was caught stealing 20 items worth £3,800, including a white Gucci dress, from the posh Saks department store in Beverly Hills.

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Troubled times . . . playing a depressed teenager in 1999’s Girl Interrupted

She claimed during a televised trial she had been researching a film role playing a kleptomaniac.

The jury also heard about her use of drugs, including oxycodone, diazepam and Vicodin without valid prescriptions.

Found guilty of grand theft, shoplifting and vandalism, she was fined and given community service, also being ordered to attend a drugs and counselling programme.

Her career died and for years she took only cameos and roles in low-budget short films.

She returned to her family in California and largely disappeared from public view.

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2001 . . . Ryder blamed her own mental health struggles for her shoplifting

She said later: “Psychologically, I must have been at a place where I just wanted to stop.

“I went back to San Francisco. A lot of people had the perception that I just ­disappeared in the 2000s. And I did, but only from that world.”

Woody Allen wanted her to star opposite Robert Downey Jr in 2004’s Melinda & Melinda but thanks to Winona’s legal troubles and Robert’s numerous drug arrests he could not get insurance on his leads.

Will ­Ferrell and Radha ­Mitchell were cast instead.

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2002 . . . which led to a court appearance the following year

A role in 2010’s well-received ballet flick Black Swan as troubled dancer Beth brought her back into the public eye and while promoting the film, Winona suggested she was ready to take on more mature roles.

She found love with US designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn after years with no serious boyfriend.

But it is her star turn in Stranger Things, released last month on Netflix to huge acclaim, that has won back the adulation and respect.

Playing a terrified mum who believes her son was abducted by unseen spirits, Winona could draw on her own tough times to create a powerful lead performance.

She said: “I spent two months basically crying every day. To ­sustain that all day, you have to drink a lot of water and stay in this dark place. It was exhausting.

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Winner . . . back on top in hit series Stranger Things

“It was draining but in the end, it was gratifying. I’m so sick of people shaming women for being sensitive or vulnerable. It’s so bizarre to me.

“There is a perception that I’m super-sensitive and fragile. And I am super-sensitive and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. To do what I do, I have to remain open.”

It is the comeback no one expected. But Stranger Things’ co-creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, knew from an early stage they wanted Winona, with Ross saying she “has that movie-star ­presence where you just point a camera and she pops off the screen”.

Millions of fans agree — and with Stranger Things securing a ­second series, Winona is surely back for good.