Some films from the '80s really don't age well. There's no question about it. And 1989's Heathers may just be one of them. While the Michael Lehmann directed movie has aspects that don't date well, it's still a great film and well-worth watching at least once. The story of revenge against the popular Heather girls really strikes nerves (both good and bad) but it also featured a stand-out performance by Winona Ryder that made her a cult figure. Winona knows how vital this movie has been to the formulation of her career. More than that, she absolutely "LOOOOVES" Heathers, according to a tell-all article by Entertainment Weekly.
"If it’s on TV, I watch it. I’ve probably seen it 50 times. Like, I can do it by heart," Winona Ryder told Entertainment Weekly.
Daniel Waters' script really struck a chord with Winona due to its refreshingly dark and honest tone. it was a distinct contrast to the John Hughes movies in the genre high-school-based genre. The movie was perfect for Winona, but not everyone on the production team thought she would be the best choice. Here's the truth about the films casting...
Winona Wasn't The First Choice For The Role Of Veronica
Instead of Winona Ryder, the filmmakers behind 1989's Heathers were focused on two other major stars of the 1980s, the stunning Jennifer Connelly and Justine Bateman. But both Jennifer and Justine rejected the protagonist role in the Michael Lehmann directed flick. So, they turned to Winona Ryder who was basically unknown. She had just finished filming Beetlejuice with Tim Burton but was anything but a star yet.
"I was like, 'The girl from Lucas? She’s just not attractive!'", Daniel Waters admitted to Entertainment Weekly.
"You have to understand, at the time, I didn’t look that different from my character in Beetlejuice," Winona Ryder said. "I was very pale. I had blue-black dyed hair. I went to Macy’s at the Beverly Center and had them do a makeover on me."
But the first time that she shot on set, the director knew that she was absolutely a star, and so did the screenwriter.
"You can’t overvalue how much Winona meant to this movie," Daniel Waters stated. "In my initial drafts, Veronica was much more evil and twisted. I referred to her as a female Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. And suddenly you’re rewriting with Winona in mind, and Veronica becomes more of an audience surrogate."
While Winona was initially drawn to the role, her agent at the time was absolutely against it...
"My agent at the time literally got on her knees and begged me not to do [the movie]. She had her hands together, and she goes, 'You will never. Work. Again.' We parted ways later," Winona said.
"Winona was so smart. She was fifteen, she turned sixteen on the movie," producer Denise Di Novi said. "She was a prodigy. From a very young age, she was an old soul. She really got the words and the imagery. She had watched tons of old movies. She was really sophisticated intellectually. She had the beauty of Veronica. She had the intelligence. She was just the perfect anti-Heather."
The Rest Of The Casting
Of course, Winona Ryder wasn't the only star of Heathers. Firstly, there was the character of J.D., which was portrayed by Christian Slater, Carrie Lynn's Martha, and then the Heathers themselves.
"I really wanted to cast Heather Graham [as Heather Chandler], and her parents wouldn’t let her do it," director Michael Lehmann said. "She was 16 or 17. I even talked to Heather’s mother at great length to convince her we weren’t tools of Satan, and she would have nothing of it. I really tried. I mean, I begged her. Heather’s reading was just great. Then the casting director said, 'Well, Kim Walker might be good. She doesn’t have a lot of experience, but…'"
Of course, Kim ended up getting the role and was superb. Then came Little House on the Prairie and Our House star Shannen Doherty.
"When Shannen came in, [our casting directors] pulled me aside and said, 'This girl is really good, but she wants Veronica.' And I said, 'We’ve already cast Winona.' And they said, 'She knows that. She’s willing to read the Heather Duke part, but she just wants you to know that’s not the part she wants.' She was amazing in the reading. I think she actually came in hoping we’d think she was so good that we’d just give her the Veronica role," Michael said of Shannen.
As for the final Heather, Heather McNamara, that role went to the incredibly successful child model Lisanne Falk, who actually kept her older age quiet when auditioning for the role.
"I said I was 18 or 19 in the audition. After I got the part, we had this celebration dinner, and I said something about how my boyfriend and I were living right down the street from the set. And they’re like, 'Your mom’s okay with that?' And I’m like, 'You guys know I’m 23, right?' And they all were like, [gasps]! I could just see the panic," Lisanne Falk said.
Luckily, Lisanne's age didn't matter, Shannen got the role the filmmakers felt she was right for, and Winona absolutely killed it (no pun intended) in the leading part.