Movies - TV
Winona Ryder Viewed Keanu Reeves As A Savior Of Sorts On The Bram Stoker's Dracula Set
By LYVIE SCOTT
Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film "Bram Stoker's Dracula" was a critical and commercial success, with Winona Ryder having brought the script to Coppola in the hopes of collaborating in earnest. Despite a fraught production, Ryder told Vanity Fair in 2018 about how Keanu Reeves kept her afloat on set.
Ryder revealed how she was "always so happy" when the two of them were on set together "because there was so much, sort of, trauma" otherwise. The actor even recovered a diary from her time on "Dracula," with an entry that read: "angst, angst, angst, angst, thank God for Keanu. Thank God I'm going to see Keanu."
The process of filming "Dracula" was rough for Ryder, who had to work from a more method-like approach during scenes, such as the one that involved her as Mina in bed with Dracula, who promptly transforms into a host of rats. In order to get Ryder to cry for the scene, Coppola apparently instructed the off-screen actors to shout insults at her.
Reeves and Anthony Hopkins refused to participate, which rendered the tactic ineffective. Through demanding scenes and Gary Oldman’s own method acting causing him to be, according to Ryder, "very emotionally on edge," the actor was able to lean on Reeves — and the two have been lifelong friends since, having gone on to work together on three other films.