New lift for Winona

The impish grin was puzzling. Hauled before a California judge on her 31st birthday, Winona Ryder looked surprisingly upbeat for someone embroiled in such controversy.

Appearing at a packed Los Angeles courtroom, the actress exuded a nonchalance that defied her predicament. Her eyes sparkled and she seemed remarkably assured as she eased her tiny frame into the defence chair.

Watching the drama unfold this week, one had to wonder what was giving her cause for such a light-hearted attitude. She stands accused, after all, of criminal offences that could land her in prison for up to three years. But putting a brave face on her predicament is an act Ryder has perfected since childhood.

Taunted at school for her androgynous looks, she threw herself into an acting course to escape the bullies.

Then, as the burden of sudden fame tormented her early twenties, she sought to mask her battle with depression by a series of high-profile failed love affairs, notably with Matt Damon and Johnny Depp.

It's no surprise, therefore, that Ryder readily admits she has a problem with the real world and couldn't be more suited to the unreal life she leads through acting, inhabiting for just a few short months the lives of others. Living those fantasies is evident, for instance, in the glamorous dresses worn by stars like Claudette Colbert and Leslie Caron that she has amassed.

"I lived in a fantasy world when I was growing up,'' she has said. "My parents used to tease me because when things would happen that I didn't like I would just want to fade out, change the channel.''

Now, in a somewhat unreal twist, many in Hollywood believe that the
emotionally vulnerable star might find her faltering career is resurrected overnight. In fact, they claim, the reason for her apparent insouciance in court could be altogether more different. Her starring role on the front pages, catching the eyes of casting agents and media moguls, may prove to be a fortunate career move few would have predicted a few months ago. The scripts, it seems, are flooding in.

Hollywood loves nothing more than a tainted star - witness the dramatic comebacks of a shamed Hugh Grant or Robert Downey Jr - and positively welcomes back celebrity outcasts. And few are more of an outcast than Ryder.

Brought up by hippy parents Michael and Cindy Horowitz ("Winona" means "first-born daughter" in the language of the Lakota tribe) on a commune in Petaluma, northern California, Ryder and her three siblings grew up surrounded by drug-users and dropouts. The late LSD guru Timothy Leary was her godfather; poet Allen Ginsberg a close family friend.

She "fell" into acting after winning a place at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater. By 18, with roles in films such as Beetlejuice and Heathers, she was on the road to stardom at a precariously young age.

Yet even then she came across as a bundle of contradictions. Seemingly blessed with intelligence, she still affected a giggly, whiny, Valley Girl twang when interviewed. At other times she withdraws so far into herself it's impossible to predict her next move. No doubt the fact that she has been required to grow up on screen has exaggerated her brittle personality.

"She was certainly a troubled kid," remembers one of her former teenage friends, Brian Foster. "She never really mixed with many people and was often complaining about the way she was brought up. I think fame came too early for her and she really struggled to cope."

Ironically, Ryder was caught stealing a comic book when she was 12, handcuffed, and taken home by police. More recently she backed out of a role in The Godfather, Part III in 1990 and checked herself into a mental hospital because of what she described as overwhelming anxiety attacks and fear.

Last summer she pulled out of the British movie Lily and the Secret Planting and was rushed back to Los Angeles to be treated for a mystery illness. She said at the time: "I thought I was losing my mind. You know when you are just so tired that you can't sleep?"

Daniel Brookman, a former attorney for Robert Downey Jr, predicts tough times ahead for the actress: "Even if there's no jail time imposed, there would be reporting requirements to a probation officer, serious travel restrictions and the problem of insurance, a biggie in the industry," he says.

As if to prove her troubled state of mind, Ryder has performed a series of peculiar antics in recent months. Since her arrest she has appeared on the cover of the US fashion magazine W in a "Free Winona" T-shirt. On the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, she joked that the crew were "keeping a close eye on me, with a lot of frisking". She was recently photographed jokingly kissing her Girl, Interrupted co-star Brittany Murphy in a car on a street in West Hollywood, the heart of LA's gay district.

But those who remain close to the troubled star believe she has what it takes to pull through. "Winona is going to be fine," predicts Australian film-maker Ross Bell, who produced the hit movie Fight Club and is working on two forthcoming projects with the star.

"She is a two-time Academy Awardnominated actress who is still young and dynamic. While this trial might be distracting, her talent and integrity in choosing challenging roles has not been diminished. At 31 she still has the world in front of her. Hollywood is not going to shut the door on one of its brightest and most enduring stars. It's not as if she killed anyone. Indeed, the betrayals and backstabbing that go on in Tinseltown are far worse than anything Winona might have done.

"Winona has been famous since she was a teenager. Everything about her life has been made public, and this tends to make her a little guarded. But once you get to know her and the guard comes down, Winona is an intelligent and passionate woman ... Her enthusiasm for life has not, remarkably, been deadened by cynicism or the constant muck-raking."

Ryder's troubles began last December when she allegedly stole $6,000-worth of goods from Saks Fifth Avenue, a luxury clothes boutique in Beverly Hills. In the months following her arrest she has become something of a laughing stock.

The trial's lengthy delay, her bizarre defence that she was merely rehearsing for a new role - along with the controversial decision-to appoint one of her producer friends onto the jury - has only added to the chaos.

Ryder had received widespread praise for her portrayal of a psychologically disturbed young woman in the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted, but the promise she showed in Heathers and Beetlejuice has rarely been fulfilled. Recent flops, like Autumn in New York and Mr Deeds, which opens here next week, have harmed her reputation every bit as much as the shoplifting charges.

Yet in a peculiar change of fate, industry insiders now believe the humiliating events may actually have worked in the actress's favour. "It's an open secret that Winona has been offered several movie scripts over the past few months," says George Rush, a well-informed New York movie critic and close friend of Ryder's. "As far as producers are concerned, she is golden right now."

Ryder's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, is happy to confirm the rumours. "Yes, I can tell you we've been getting a steady stream of offers," she tells the Evening Standard. "Of course, it's been a pretty traumatic personal time for Winona, but on a work level things are looking very good indeed."

Ryder herself remains optimistic. "One of the things I thought for years is that I am not okay," she said recently. "I thought people would think I was a brat if I complained about anything. If I said I was depressed, they'd attack me. Now I know I'm allowed to say, 'Wow, I had a hard time.' I am learning to be me."