‘Black Swan’s’ Winona Ryder Talks Aging In Hollywood

In “Black Swan,” the battling ballerina drama garnering early Oscar buzz, Winona Ryder plays an aging dancer, pushed out of the spotlight by the emergence of a younger rising star, played by Natalie Portman, and it’s something the 39-year-old actress said she can relate to.

“It’s parallel to a lot of things, you know — getting older in Hollywood, getting older in the ballet world,” Winona, who plays Beth Macintyre, aka “The Dying Swan” in the film, told Access Hollywood at “Black Swan’s” New York City premiere on Tuesday night.

Winona herself has dealt with Hollywood’s reaction to aging, having gone from being the town’s golden girl, beginning in the late ‘80s with films like “Lucas,” “Beetlejuice,” “Heathers” and “Great Balls of Fire,” right through to the early ‘90s, with roles in “Reality Bites” and “Little Women.”

In recent years, however, like with many actresses before her, Winona has had to transition from film centerpiece roles to co-star status in movies like 2009’s “Star Trek,” which saw her play Spock’s human mother.

While Winona has downsized somewhat, she’s still managed to sustain a healthy career, something she realized while working on “Black Swan” doesn’t happen in the ballet world.

”[The] ballet world is more brutal in the sense that your career is sort of over when you’re very young and in Hollywood at least you can sort of maybe go on you know, but it’s definitely a lot of parallels,” Winona told Access.