'Stranger Things' Stars Defend Winona Ryder's 'Awesome' Facial Expressions
Winona Ryder won the "Stranger Things" co-star's speech. Most fans appreciated the viral-worthy beauty of her reaction shots, but others wondered if there was something wrong with her. In the days after the SAG Awards, the actress's Netflix family has stepped in on the defense -- attempting to explain what she was doing, or just praising the "expressive" star and embracing her lovable quirks.
TMZ asked Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin) about Winona's "crazy faces," and he said she just couldn't hear David Harbour's (Chief Hopper) speech. When he saw how she reacted, he said he loved it and thought "it was awesome."
David Harbour tweeted his love for the Winona memes...
My fellow artists. There is no greater honor than to be counted among you in the fight to bring us together. And the Winona memes are epic???? pic.twitter.com/ioGUpBx9zZ
— David Harbour (@DavidKHarbour) January 30, 2017
... and further praised Winona, and the light-hearted live show moment, in a talk with Vanity Fair:
"I'll connect with her this week once we get back on set together, and we'll joke about it," Harbour said, adding, "But I just love her so much. Her face is just so expressive. What an amazing quality. And it's just so fun to have people—to have this kind of fiery speech, and then to have people also appreciate the silliness and the joy of just like a totally wonderful, sensitive, expressive actress. I love it."
Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) also praised the expressive side of his on-screen mom:
that's why she's so good. Reacting to live speech in the moment #proud#puzzled#surprised#happy it's called being a great actor ???? https://t.co/WRA0TqJ0jA
— Noah Schnapp (@noah_schnapp) January 30, 2017
Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner) had his hands on Winona's shoulders through the speech, and one fan accused him of using her as an arm rest -- which is a weird thing to call out -- so he responded with more praise for the actress:
? Seriously? Winona's an angel and I was holding her so she wouldn't float away. ????@SAGawards#StrangerThingshttps://t.co/i6Cbhb7cJi
— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) January 30, 2017
There are worse fates than to be an instant social media sensation decades after first making it big in '80s movies. Winona is our queen, and we're more excited than ever to see her Joyce Byers back in action when Netflix gives us Season 2 ... sometime this summer.
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