Winona Ryder: She is worried having children could end her acting career

Winona Ryder is worried having children could end her acting career. The ‘Girl, Interrupted’ has no plans to start a family in the near future in case motherhood ruins her chances of appearing in more films.

She said: “If I wanted to have a family now, would I be able to come back to work in a couple of years?” The 39-year-old actress’ reluctance to get pregnant may be due to Hollywood’s attitude towards ageing actresses, and her latest role in ‘Black Swan’ – in which she portrays prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre who is being replaced by younger dancer Nina, played by Natalie Portman, in a production of ‘Swan Lake’ – has done nothing to ease her fears.

Winona said: “I thought it was a cool parallel. Being replaced by the young thing. I know that definitely happens in Hollywood. It’s harder to find good roles, and suddenly there are new girls.

“I’m at that age I’ve been warned my whole life about.”

Winona looks to 61-year-old Oscar winner Meryl Streep for inspiration when it comes to balancing her work and personal commitments as she approaches 40.

She told the US edition of GQ magazine: “It’s hard to imagine a time where Meryl Streep wasn’t the first choice for everything, but I was reading some article, and she said something like, ‘Yeah, when I was around 38, 39, I turned to my husband and said, ‘Should we just call it a day, or should we try to kick the can down the road?’

“It was so weird to me to think about movies without her in them. But a lot of great actresses have chosen that.”