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Here's a theory: Bo Diddily is a black rock and roller from the 1950's who prided his image on the color black. He said in an interview that there is a lot of symbolism where black is involved--in part because the color black suggests both evil and mystery. Now we all know in Heathers' color-coded world that J.D.'s color is black--hence the only relation to Bo Diddily I can see. |
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"My father really had a great deal of influence on how that character was played," he says. "There were certain characteristics of his that I picked up, and a lot of those, I guess, resemble the stuff that Jack does. Because my relationship with my father is so confusing, when I saw Jack Nicholson in a movie, I just felt a connection there (98)." |
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Backstage, Ryder is worried--will the audience hate her too? She gets an idea and whispers it to Slater. When the screening ends, the two actors come out from behind the curtain and sit in chairs on-stage, holding hands. "What are you two nervous?" teacher Ralph Applebaum asks. They look at each other. "We just got married," Slater says, grinning. "Last week," Ryder says, "In Vegas." Some class members applaud, others look befuddled. Slater and Ryder never drop the conceit, calling each other "honey," and their charm overpowers their critics. A few days later Ryder is striding briskly through Central Park wearing Slater's leather biker jacket; the zipper won't zip so her hands clasp it shut against the chilly spring breeze. She laughingly recalls the idea of marrying Slater. "We talked about how we were going to do all the Hollywood marriage things," she says, "like stage fights in restaurants, be really reclusive but then leak out everything; he'd cover my face when photographers came, like Sean [Penn] and Madonna." But after Slater went on a TV talk show and proposed to her on the air, Ryder suddenly tired of the joke. "People have been calling me about it," she says. "It doesn't sound too good. Marriage would be fun, but I don't think I'm ready for it yet." . . ."We never fooled around or anything during the movie," Ryder says. But after filming ended Slater broke up with [Kim] Walker and started dating Ryder. "It was only for a couple of weeks," Ryder says, "It was too weird. You know when you're really good friends with somebody? It's hard when you try to make something work. It's bogus. It should just happen naturally (50)." |
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She cheers up when she remembers the review of Heathers in this week's Village Voice. "This is going to sound really obnoxious," she says. "But listen to what it says: 'Winona Ryder plays the conflicted Veronica with deeper-than-method conviction.' That's good, isn't it?" The limo horn honks outside. "Oh wait!" she cries. "Should I bring a jacket? Ohmigod, should I bring a purse? What will I keep my lipstick in?" She hangs up in mid crisis. Que sera, sera (51). |
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Slater arrived on the set of Heathers as the live-in boyfriend of actress Kim Walker (one of the titular bitches,) but it wasn't long before he and Ryder succumbed, if briefly, to each other's charms. Slater declines to comment about these liaisons. "Until I write my autobiography I think I should deny it all," he says wryly, but firmly, any glimmer of guilt hidden safely behind his shades (42). |
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[Slater's] portrayal of J.D. in Heathers certainly was different from all his other characters, and Slater was quite spooky in the role . . . Not only did he act the part, but Christian even looked a bit wicked. "It's probably the eyebrows," he says. "They can make me look positively evil." |
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