W: How did you have so much composure as a kid doing movies?
Ryder: I didn't have any composure back then. I was very scared. But I'd been in a couple of bands. We didn't have any gigs—we were terrible. But at least that got me over my stage fright. Also, I was very into skateboarding. I really wanted to skate competitively and make it my career for a while.
W: You must have gotten bruised a lot.
Ryder: Actually, I never broke a bone until the movie, until I did Deeds. I broke my arm. We were shooting a scene where Adam and I are riding bikes down a long flight of stairs in Central Park. I was in heels and my heel got caught in the pedal. The funniest thing is we were just standing there, but I was totally showing off like an idiot. Suddenly, I was on the ground and he was like, "Are you okay?" I got up and I was like, "Yeah, I 'm fine. No problem!" And in the morning, oh, God, my arm hurts.
W: How did you finish the movie?
Ryder: Well, I'm an actress—I'm trained to hide my pain. But eventually, I went to the doctor, and it was broken in three places! Miraculously they were joint breaks so you don't put
those in a cast.
W: With Mr. Deeds, was there a conscious choice to get back into comedy?
Ryder: I've always been a fan of Adam Sandler. I'm, like, very strange that way. I can be the biggest snob. Then I realize I'm not a snob at all. One of the things that's so cool about Adam is he doesn't do press. That is because he's been so screwed over by it. I think what was written when Chris Farley died really upset him. You see, I've been through this stuff. I have grown up on-screen and been around Hollywood and have seen people go through horrendous tragedy and stupid scandal. Then the exploitation of the tragedy and exploitation of the scandal. I have seen so much horrible stuff. But when you lose a good friend and then watch the press do that—that's unforgivable.
W: Well, Adam Sandler agreed to talk to W—ever so briefly— about you. This is his quote, which he insisted be run in its entirety: "Winona kept leaving messages on my answering machine, boasting, 'I'm way funnier than you, Adam Sandler, and you'd better recognize it.' Finally, after the 23rd insult to my comic abilities, I *69ed little Miss HaHa and threw down the gauntlet. 'Winona Ryder, if you think you're so damn funny, then prove it to me on the silver screen. Me versus you. Mano a mano. The person who receives the most laughs gets a fresh pizza pie of their choice, paid for by the loser.' Fifty-two days later, after a long, grueling movie shoot, Ms. Ryder happily devoured a large mushroom-and-green-pepper pizza, at my expense. My hat's off to you, doe eyes. You are one funny diva."
