Winona Ryder claims to have almost missed out on iconic role because she wasn't 'pretty enough'

Stranger Things star Winona Ryder has opened up about what she did when not considered 'pretty enough' for a role.

Ryder is known and loved by many for her role as Joyce Byers in hit Netflix series Stranger Things but she's got a whole plethora of iconic roles under her belt, from Beetlejuice to Edward Scissorhands. However, there's one character she nearly didn't get the chance to play and the 52-year-old's revealed she believes it was because they didn't think she was 'pretty enough'.

When Ryder first broke into the industry, she starred in coming-of-age teenage movies Lucas (1986) and Square Dance (1987).

In the late 80's, she was then cast by Tim Burton in his film Beetlejuice and she reflects on her role as being that of the 'weird girl'.

Ryder has since revealed after starring in the horror-comedy she found it difficult to shake off the casting type of her as the strange girl or outsider, so much so it even meant she nearly didn't get one of her most iconic roles.

Winona Ryder was known as 'the weird girl from Beetlejuice' (Warner Bros. Pictures)

After starring in Beetlejuice, Ryder went up for the role of Veronica Sawyer in dark comedy Heathers.

Similarly to the first of her breakout roles, Heathers is set in a high school, however, rather than developing into a heartfelt coming-of-age rom-com, the film sees Veronica Sawyer pair up with another student to start killing off the popular kids.

In an interview with Harper's BAZAAR, she explained: "I'd been slipped the script by Michael McDow who wrote Beetlejuice and was a friend and it was such a brilliant script. It was sort of going around secretly, so to get slipped that early on was great.

"And I went in and I met and they didn't think I was pretty enough, I was sort of the weird girl from Beetlejuice."

But what did Ryder make of this at the time?

Winona Ryder nearly didn't take on the lead role in Heathers (New World Pictures)

Well, the actor notes she actually thought this perception of her was 'very fair'.

"Because on screen I'd only played very weird characters," she adds.

So, Ryder took some decisive action to change the way those in the industry viewed her.

The actor explains she went across the road to the Beverly Center and visited a Macy's where she got them to do a 'makeover' on her.

After switching up her appearance, she went back to the team and said: "You don't even have to pay me, I just want to say these words."

And thankfully, Ryder did end up taking on the role in the 1988 release, her performance helping lead the movie to becoming a massive hit, smashing the box office with a worldwide release of nearly $75 million on a $15 million budget, as per Box Office Mojo and accumulating an impressive Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 95 percent, with the film having since been adapted into a Broadway musical too.