Winona Ryder thinks it is "healthy" to date someone not in the public eye.
The ‘Stranger Things’ actress previously had high-profile romances with Matt Damon and Johnny Depp, but these days she feels more "settled" than ever before, thanks to her six-year relationship with fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn.
She said of him being in a different industry: "I think it’s healthy, and I enjoy feeling a bit more settled now."
The 45-year-old star’s parents are still happily married and she admits it has been tough to find a relationship that reaches the "gold standard" of theirs.
"They are madly in love, they’re like teenagers. It’s embarrassing sometimes. I’ve had relationships that haven’t worked out. But when you have that as your gold [standard], and you know that’s the way it should be… Oh, man!"
Winona – who grew up on a commune with her writer parents – remains very close to her mother and father and thinks of them as her "best friends".
She said: "We didn’t have a lot of money. But the love compensation was amazing. My dad would make little things exciting, like bringing home Rolos. There’s that saying, ‘You find your family’, but I would have chosen them even if they weren’t my parents. They’re my best friends."
And when it comes to her work, the ‘Heathers’ actress turns to her father, who is an antiquarian bookseller for help researching her roles as he often finds out-of-print books to help her.
She said: "When I did ‘Girl, Interrupted’, my dad got me this amazing Mary Ellen Mark book [showing photos of women in the maximum security section of Oregon State Hospital]."
But to play a grieving mother in ‘Stranger Things’, Winona – who doesn’t have children – turned to her own mom for guidance.
She recalled to Marie Claire magazine: "I said, ‘Mom, if every bit of logic is telling you your kid is gone, would you still [refuse to believe it]?’ And she said, ‘Absolutely.’ I said, ‘What if they show you a body?’ She said, ‘If you don’t see it happen, you don’t believe it.’ It’s a weird, primal thing.
"But I may have gone too far: it seemed like every day I was crying or freaking out."
Winona Ryder pleased relationship is private
