Winona Ryder has recently shared insights into a past unrequited love within the industry. In a candid reflection with ELLE UK, the Stranger Things actress revealed that she once harbored deep romantic feelings for acting legend Al Pacino.
Reportedly, her affection for Al Pacino blossomed during their time working together on the 2002 comedy Simone. At the time, the actress was in her early twenties and thoroughly smitten.
“I was absolutely in love with Al Pacino when I was working with him,” she told the magazine. The now 53-year-old actress added, “We were doing that workshop for Richard III, which I didn’t know was gonna be a movie. I was actively in love with him.”
The Oscar-winning star, now 85, apparently had a different kind of passion at the time. “He was obsessed with coffee, and he would take me all over New York – like, to the weirdest places – to try different coffees,” she recalled.
Finally gathering the courage, Winona confessed her feelings one evening after a coffee-fueled day exploring Manhattan. “I’m 22, or whatever. Finally, he’s dropping me off wherever I’m staying, and I’m like, ‘I love you, you know. I really am completely in love with you,’” she recounted.
Nonetheless, Al Pacino gently let her down, responding with a simple, “And he was like ‘Aw, honey, noooo.’”
She added with a laugh, “Then, like 10 years later, I meet his girlfriend, who’s younger than me,” remarking, “Dude, I’m f****** throwing myself at you.”
Despite the decades-old rejection, the two appear to have remained on good terms. “I still play poker with him sometimes. It’s the best,” she concluded.
