Winona Ryder revealed that she and Keanu Reeves still jokingly refer to one another as husband and wife via text messages. The pair worked together on “Dracula” over three decades earlier, during which they played the role of a married couple. Ryder joked that their on-screen wedding scene, which was performed by a real Romanian priest, is legally binding. “We actually got married in Dracula,” Ryder said. “No, I swear to God, I think we’re married in real life.”
“In that scene, Francis [Ford Coppola] used a real Romanian priest,” Ryder added. “We shot the master and he did the whole thing. So I think we’re married.” In a recent podcast appearance, Ryder said she and Reeves often greet each other in messages, saying things like “Happy birthday, my husband.”
“We always say who it is, even though it says it on the text. So like on his birthday I go: ‘Happy birthday, my husband,’” Ryder said. “And then he’s like, ‘Hey, my wife, I love you. KR 57.’ Like on each birthday he’s like KR 57 or whatever his age is. He’s always done that.”
Both Ryder and Reeves have said they are married in a spiritual sense. “We did a whole take of a marriage ceremony with real priests,” Reeves said. “Winona says we are. Coppola says we are. So I guess we’re married under the eyes of God.”
Ryder also discussed challenges with younger co-stars in the industry, noting a lack of interest in cinema among some. “There are a few that are just not interested in movies. Like, the first thing they say is, ‘How long is it?’” Ryder said. “I just think that social media has changed everything, and I know I sound old. I’m very aware of that,” she later added.
“And part of me thinks, ‘Gosh, am I like vaudeville at this point?’ Like ‘Hey, kids, turn down the music!’ But I just think there was such an abundance: the history of film, the history of photography, it’s so rich, and there’s so much there, and I don’t mean we should go backwards, but I wish and I hope that the younger generation will study that,” Ryder said.
She’s reprising her role in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which was released on September 6.
