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Beetlejuice
In her first lead in a truly major motion picture, Ryder won the hearts of emo kids worldwide as a black-clad Goth teen with a drone of a voice and a killer way with line delivery, who becomes embroiled in ghostly shenanigans at her new home.
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Show Me a Hero
The Ryder Renaissance, kicked off by her turn as the ousted ballerina in Black Swan, gathered further steam with her storming turn in this HBO miniseries as an often-drunk New York politician embroiled in City Hall deadlock.
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Girl, Interrupted
It’s a shame for Ryder that this mental-hospital-set psychodrama is now remembered mostly as an Angelina Jolie Oscar-rewarded showcase. Ryder is actually very good as the damaged Susanna Kaysen, who would go on to write the memoir on which this was based.
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Little Women
Ryder played novelist Louisa May Alcott’s fictional avatar feisty Jo, the sister with literary ambitions, in this sprightly, faithful adaptation from Gillian Armstrong. It offers a chance to appreciate how good Ryder (nominated for a best actress Oscar) is particularly when working with a strong female ensemble (Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst as her sisters and Susan Sarandon as beloved "Marmee").
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The Crucible
Ryder reteamed with Daniel Day-Lewis for this Nicholas Hytner-directed adaptation of Arthur Miller’s withering study of mass hysteria and guilt. Although it was Day-Lewis and Joan Allen who got the most attention, Ryder is quite their equal as the vengeful, petulant Abigail Williams.
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Experimenter
As the wife of controversial 1960s social psychologist Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard), who tested people's disturbing capacity for obedience, Ryder delivers a flinty, unsentimental supporting turn.
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Reality Bites
Ryder's natural grunge-cool made her a perfect fit for this witty look at Gen X anomie, in which her character must choose between Ben Stiller's yupster television exec and Ethan Hawke's moody guitarist.
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The Age of Innocence
Ryder's turn in Martin Scorsese's Edith Wharton adaptation, as the scheming debutante Daniel Day-Lewis' high-society New Yorker is supposed to marry (before he falls for Michelle Pfeiffer's divorcee), demonstrated her great range.
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Bram Stoker's Dracula
Playing both the Victorian Mina and the medieval Elisabeta — the eternal loves of Gary Oldman's Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's camp-goth extravaganza — Ryder is enchanting, the type of girl one would risk damnation for.
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Heathers
Ryder's popular girl pairs with Christian Slater's enigmatic new kid for murderous mischief in Michael Lehmann's pitch-black teen-com. It's the actress' most "Winonic" performance: cult, kooky and smarter than it looks.
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