TV Hits (Australia), February 1997

Who do you play in "The Crucible"? I play Abigail Williams who has an affair with a much older married man, John Proctor (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). She's thrown out of the house, given a terrible reputation and he denies even touching her. She takes revenge by accusing him of witchcraft for which he is punished. She develops these psychosomatic reactions like giving herself a fever and she really starts to believe that she is a saint and that the village ought to be cleansed. She starts to go insane!

What kind of relationship do you have with Daniel Day-Lewis? Well, what was great was that I had worked with him before on "The Age of Innocence" so I knew how he worked and how private he was. I have known him for so many years and there is still so much I have to learn about him.

Have you ever felt vengeful like Abigail does? No, I haven't contemplated getting 17 people hung like she does! I just don't have that kind of streak in me, though it has been hard when things go wrong in relationships. Sure, I've become very angry over some things but I don't think calculated revenge to that extent comes into it. I think I have been pretty lucky with relationships! There have been a few times when I've had to pull a few strings to get what I want but it has always been on the right side of sanity.

Do you think modern-day audiences will relate to the 1600's witchcraft aspects in the film? Yes, I think it is stunningly relevant to today. Mass hysteria is something that we still deal with in every country. As human beings. it's our nature to "witch-hunt". to find a scapegoat.

Do you believe in witchcraft? I never really believed in the devil or bad witches before. I'm superstitious about other things but that's not one of them. But I do believe in spirits. For example, I really didn't think I was going to get this role. I was petrified and thought I'd get fired right away. Now, I think a spirit helped me get the part. I often feel like something is guiding me.

Is there any spirit in particular that's been helping you? Well, there is one woman my grandmother knew. I had a lot of family members who died in the Holocaust, in the camps. My grandmother is still alive and she has a lot of letters and pictures of relatives and there's this one particular relative who was my age when she died. She was a violinist and actor and she looked like me. I think she is the one.

How long has she been guiding you? I have had this feeling for the last eight years that she was there and guiding me and helping me with my performances.

Do you think there are women who could be classified as witches today? Well, my mom is a midwife and she's part of a lot of women's circles who practise white witchcraft. They do healing and they perform ceremonies.

Have you seen your mom at work? Yeah, I've watched about 50 children being born in my life because of what my mother does. They were all born naturally with no anaesthetist, just using herbs, candlelight and music and everyone of those births was successful.

Would you choose natural childbirth after seeing that? Oh, yeah, definitely. If your mom is a midwife, I don't think you have a choice. She's the one who is going to deliver my baby.

You said this was your toughest role yet, how did you wind down? I couldn't! I'm often able to let go of the character at the end of the day, but with this film, every scene was so incerdible intense that the cast was walking around like strung-out zombies for four months.

After the final shoot, did you relax easily? No, it took me a while. I haven't worked since I made the film a year ago, and that's probably because of the movie. I went through a pretty bad depression afterwards. But it was probably one of the best experiences of my life, acting-wise and creatively.

Did this intensity and depression affect your relationships? Only in the sense that I leaned on my family more, but they enjoy having me to stay. After filming, I fled home to my family and ate a lot of chicken soup and got my feet rubbed! I was spoiled!

Do you have a boyfriend to run home to? At the moment I'm currently happy with myself. I'm just spending a lot of time with myself, that's how it is.

What qualities do you look for in a boyfriend? Probably just all the obvious ones like intelligence, humour and a good heart. Looks? Well that would be nice too!

Does the media give you a hard time over your boyfriends? No, I really don't have many problems with the media. The worst that's ever happened to me is I've been limked to some fabulous guy that I wish I was going out with! (Laughs).

Tell us about your next film "Alien 4". Well, I've always been a big science-fiction buff and "Alien" especially had a huge impact on me when I saw it because Sigourney Weaver was the first female action hero I ever saw. It was really flattering to be offered the role.

New Weekly (Australia), 3 February 1997

But that's about to change, thanks to her latest role in the sci-fi flick Aliens: Resurrection. In this big budget action thriller, also starring Alien's Sigourney Weaver, Winona plays a cropped-haired android with evil intentions.

"I'm sick of being described as cute or elfin. This role is completely removed from my usual work," says Winona.

In the process, her $3.8 million price tag increased by $2.8 million, allowing her to buy a home in Beverley Hills.

Winona's private life has also undergone a radical change. For five years she was engaged to actor Johnny Depp, before moving on to rocker Dave Pirner. Back then, her favourite pastime was hanging around the house wearing old jeansand writing poetry. She rarely ventured out and made a point of avoiding nightclubs and crowds.

But that's all in the past. Today, she has shocked even those who know her well by bursting out on to the social scene with a string of unlikely dates including X-Files' David Duchovny and Dodi Fayed, fun-loving son of Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed.

Party-shy no more, 25-year-old Winona is often seen hanging out with actor Gwyneth Paltrow at New York's trendiest clubs, and Gwyneth regularly fixes Winona up with the hottest young guys on the music and movie scene, including Bob Dylan's son, Jakob.

She's been spotted at fashion shows, movie premieres and nightclubs wearing sexy clothes with plunging necklines. She's been pictured hugging all the hippest fashion designers and even went to dinner with veteran man-about-town Eric Clapton. "I guess I'm just learning to have fun," she says. "I've always had a sense of humour, but people just wanted to pigeon-hole me as `little Winona, the serious and sensitive one'.

"When I was younger, every time I'd open my mouth on the set people would go, `Isn't that cute? Winona has her little ideas. That's soooo cute.' Well, I'm not the youngest person on the set any more and I demand to be heard."

"It's been interesting for me, this new life," says the 163cm tall actor, referring to her six-hour training sessions as she beefs up for her new role. "It's vital that I train and get tough, although I'm not sure whether I'm entirely cut out for it. I mean, muscles look weird on me. I'm really small and don't have that kind of body."

The role involves combat and fight sequences, something she hasn't previously tackled - and she's anxious to discuss physical violence on screen. "To me, a person slapping someone across the face is more violent than someone getting shot, because it's so humiliating and it's such a horrible feeling."

"I know I've slapped a few people, but I've never gone out with a guy who's hit me. I'd say most of my female friends have either been raped or hit or beat up by boyfriends."

"It happens much more than we all think. It happens a lot in this business. Actors do it to girls, to extras. I was once around an actor - I was really young, 15 or 16, and he was a lot older - and he was coming on to me, and it made me uncomfortable. I never said anything because he was a big star, and I wasn't, and I always regretted that. He didn't hurt me, but I think I should have said something."

In one fiery scene in The Crucible, Winona's character, Abigail, looks shocked as she is slapped in the face by Bruce Davison, who plays Salem's tormented preacher. "That hurt," says Winona, who didn't see the slap coming. "Even if you're doing a movie, you still feel this sense of humiliation."

Winona says she is sympathetic to her character: "Abigail was 12 and John Procter was 65. He's been [having sex with] her since she was a little girl, and all of a sudden she's branded a witch and kicked out of the community. I really feel for her. It was so obscene how children and women were treated."

Now that she's disposed of her sugar-sweet image, she says she's finally beginning to feel comfortable in Tinseltown.

"Playing cute and confused doesn't interest me anymore. I'm a grown woman and it's ridiculous that I still keep being offered these parts," she explains.