When Keanu Reeves refused to insult Winona Ryder on 'Dracula' set

Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves longtime friendship is not hidden from the world, and now Ryder is talking about the time from where their friendship began.


The 48-year-old actress recently recalled the incident when she was talking about filming the 1992 movie. She explained to The Sunday Times that, she was doing a scene in which her character was supposed to be crying and that was the reason Coppola asked the other actors on set to abuse her. 

Per the outlet, Coppola reportedly shouting insults, such as "You whore!" Ryder said,  "To put it in context I'm supposed to be crying," she told the Times. "Literally, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu… Francis was trying to get all of them to yell things that would make me cry. But Keanu wouldn't, Anthony wouldn't… the more it happened, I was like… It just didn't work. I was, like, really? It kind of did the opposite."

The actor said that the experience led to her long-time friendship with Reeves, and she and Coppola are "good now."

Talking about the same moment, Coppola said, ''While I think Winona is a wonderful actor, the incident she described is not how it happened, and shouting or abusing people isn’t something I do as a person or as a filmmaker. In this situation, which I remember clearly, I instructed Gary Oldman—in character as Dracula—to whisper improvised words to her and the other characters, making them as horrific and evil as he could. I don’t know what was said, but improvisation is a common filmmaking practice.”

The movie arrived early on in both of their careers and was a blockbuster, grossing $215 million worldwide. Reeves and Ryder later together worker in 'A Scanner Darkly' (2006), 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' (2009), 'Destination Wedding' (2018).