When Johnny Depp first saw Winona Ryder at a film premiere in 1989, it was love at first sight. Through the wilderness of Hollywood fame, the two had found each other – but what was his biggest love would also come to be his biggest heartbreak.
A year after locking eyes at the Great Balls of Fire! premiere, when Depp was 26, and Ryder was 18, they fell in love on the set of Tim Burton’s gothic romance Edward Scissorhands.
They had their first date at a friend’s house, and Ryder was struck by how “shy” Depp was. “It was absolutely like nothing before,” he said, “We hung out the whole day… and night, and we’ve been hanging out ever since. I love her more than anything in the whole world.” During the filming of Edward Scissorhands, the actor was so besotted he even got a tattoo on his arm in honour of Ryder that read “Winona forever”.
They then became engaged for several years, appearing on the cover of various magazines and becoming the subject of many talk shows before they would eventually split in 1993. At the time, a source said they “grew apart”, but Depp later revealed that the age difference, alongside the media’s persistence, proved to be a significant burden on their relationship.
“It’s very hard to have a personal life in this town,” Depp admitted. “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.” Although he says he never regretted getting the tattoo, he did eventually change it to “Wino forever”.
For Ryder, the relationship always had a special place in her heart, as Depp was her “first everything”. “I was very depressed after breaking off my engagement with Johnny,” she recalled. “I was embarrassingly dramatic at the time, but you have to remember I was only 19 years old.” She also states things got so “dramatic” that she once “fell asleep with a lit cigarette and woke up to the flames”. At the time, she was prescribed medication after being diagnosed with anticipatory nostalgia – an acute sadness caused by losing something very special.
However, despite remaining friends after the break-up, things took a slight turn when Depp started dating Amber Heard. “[Ryder] had a respectful relationship with Johnny for years [after their split], but she soured on any idea of an acting reunion after Johnny hooked up with Amber,” an insider source said. “She’s pulled a 180 on her opinion of Johnny and his cronies because she thinks it’s a sad cliché that he’d dump his long-term baby mama for a woman in her twenties.”
After the rocky period, though, Ryder remained a strong supporter of the actor, even speaking out during his court trials. “I can only speak from my own experience, which was wildly different than what is being said,” Ryder revealed at the time. “He was never, never that way towards me. Never abusive at all towards me. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.”
She added: “I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened. I’m not calling anyone a liar. I’m just saying it’s difficult and upsetting for me to wrap my head around it. Look, it was a long time ago, but we were together for four years, and it was a big relationship for me. Imagine if someone you dated when you were – I was 17 when I met him – was accused of that.”
Both Depp and Ryder have cited the relationship as both of their biggest, life-defining romances. After their split in 1993, Depp went on to film for Burton’s next film Ed Wood but reportedly turned up more often than not in floods of tears. “It wasn’t the same as Winona. I felt weird to be around him, like he wasn’t acting like Johnny anymore. It’s almost like Winona took Johnny’s soul, Johnny’s love,” Burton said.
