Winona Ryder is arguably one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actresses right now – a former child star who is currently starring in one of the biggest series on television.
Yet for all her fame, the 54-year-old has done a stellar job keeping her private life out of the spotlight, and her romance with Scott Mackinlay Hahn has been kept a closely guarded secret for the most part.
So who exactly is this man who has stolen the heart of the Stranger Things star? Read on to find out!
Who is Winona Ryder’s partner now?
Winona has been in a relationship with Scott Mackinlay Hahn for close to 15 years, having begun dating in 2011.
A fashion designer, he co-founded the socially-conscious line Loomstate in 2004.
The couple made their red-carpet debut at the Stranger Things season one premiere in July 2016.
“He’s so great. He really is,” Winona told Harper’s Bazaar in July 2024. “I’m really lucky.”
Speaking to the publication in 2022, the actress revealed her partner is so removed from Hollywood that he mistook her for another star when they met!
“He thought I was Milla Jovovich,” she said. “He told me I was great in The Fifth Element.”
Luckily, it worked in his favour, with the star actually finding this endearing.
“We connected on so many levels,” she explained. “But it was amazing that he’s not in this business… I really did try to keep it quiet.”
Does Winona Ryder have children?
Despite having been together for more than a decade, Winona and Scott, 54, have not had any children and have no plans to get married.
In fact, Winona has long stated that she’s never envisioned herself getting married.
“Marriage? I don’t know. I’d rather never have been married than been divorced a few times,” she told The Edit in 2016.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with divorce, but I don’t think I could do it if that was a possibility.”
Though they may not be her actual children, Winona told People magazine in 2016 she bonded with the Stranger Things child actors.
She grew particularly close with Charlie Heaton and Noah Schnapp, who play her sons Jonathan and Will, respectively, and Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven.
“I mean, I’m not a mum, but I grew very attached. I’ll just leave it at that,” she said. “They’re just amazing.”
What happened between Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp?
Winona and Johnny Depp had one of the most high-profile relationships of the 1990s.
After meeting at the 1989 premiere of her film Great Balls of Fire!, when Winona was just 18 and Johnny was 26, their love story began when they were cast in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands.
Johnny, now 62, declared his love for Winona with a tattoo on his arm that read: “Winona Forever,” before the pair cemented their relationship with an engagement.
However, in 1993, they called off their engagement, a source saying at the time they’d “grown apart”, though Johnny suggested the media frenzy surrounding them played a part.
“It’s very hard to have a personal life in this town,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1993.
“My relationship with Winona, it was my mistake to be as open as we were, but I thought if we were honest it would destroy that curiosity monster.
“Instead, it fed it, gave people license to feel they were part of it.”
The actor famously had his tattoo altered after their split to read: “Wino Forever.”
Who is Winona Ryder’s character in Stranger Things?
Winona has played Joyce Byers since season one of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Debuting in 2016, the series is now coming to a close with its three-part fifth and final season, which debuted on November 26.
Winona told Hot Ones host Sean Evans she really feels for her co-stars – many of whom have spent “half of their lives” filming the show.
“I remember explaining to a couple [of co-stars],’ Well, our friendship isn’t over.’ But it does feel like that,” she noted.
What other movies and TV shows has Winona Ryder appeared in?
With a career spanning almost four decades, it would be easier to list the movies and TV shows the actress hasn’t appeared in!
Winona got her start in 1986 film Lucas, alongside Charlie Sheen and Corey Haim – and it’s here that she first began using her stage name “Ryder”.
After seeing her in Lucas, director Tim Burton cast the teenager in his 1988 film Beetlejuice, as gothic teen Lydia – a role that would catapult her to stardom.
Roles quickly followed in Heathers (1989), Great Balls of Fire! (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Reality Bites (1994), Little Women (1994), Girl, Interrupted (1999) and Zoolander (2001).
She was nominated for back-to-back Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995 for her roles in The Age of Innocence and Little Women.
How old is Winona Ryder?
Born on October 29, 1971, Winona Ryder is currently 54 years old.
Named after the town in which she was born – Winona County, Minnesota – the star was named Winona Laura Horowitz at birth by parents Cynthia Palmer and Michael D. Horowitz.
The actress took her stage name from soul and rock singer Mitch Ryder.
