Winona Ryder Once Confessed Her Love to an A-Lister — & Instantly Regretted It
Winona Ryder has survived Hollywood scandals, heartbreaks, and even a Saks Fifth Avenue shoplifting charge — but nothing humbles quite like a one-sided crush. At 22, at the height of her ingenue era, Ryder confessed her love to Al Pacino. His response? A polite rejection that still makes her cringe decades later.
“I was absolutely in love with Al Pacino when I was working with him,” Ryder revealed this week in a new interview with Elle. The two were collaborating on a Richard III workshop — something she didn’t even realize was destined for film. “He was obsessed with coffee,” she recalled, noting how he’d cart her around New York to find the most obscure brews. “I’m 22, or whatever.”
Eventually, she caved to her own feelings. “He’s dropping me off wherever I’m staying, and I’m like, ‘I love you, you know. I really am completely in love with you.’” Pacino’s reply? Ryder reenacted the moment: he reached out gently, took her hand, and said, “Aw, honey, noooo.”
She managed to recover — sort of. “Then, like, 10 years later, I meet his girlfriend, who’s younger than me,” she said. (Pacino welcomed son Roman in 2023 with Noor Alfallah, who’s 53 years his junior.) “Dude, I’m f***ing throwing myself at you.” A reminder that timing, and Hollywood, can be brutal.
Luckily, the embarassment wasn’t enough to stifle a lifelong friendship. The two remain on good terms today, even playing poker together from time to time. “It’s the best.”
The confession may have been a bust, but Ryder found real love elsewhere. She’s been with fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn since 2011, after meeting at the Black Swan premiere. “It was amazing that he’s not in this business,” she once told Harper’s Bazaar. “We connected on so many levels.”
After decades in the spotlight — and a mid-2000s retreat from it — Ryder’s comeback via Stranger Things has cemented her as a Gen X icon with Gen Z staying power. The Pacino moment? Just another perfectly awkward gem in the Winona Ryder cinematic universe.
Before you go, click here to see celebrity couples with significant age differences.