Winona Ryder vs. Angelina Jolie Off-Camera Wars in Classic 90s Movie, Explained by Elisabeth Moss
Forget Gangs of New York, real gangs emerged on the set of Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder’s classic 1999 movie, according to their co-star.
Summary:
- In 1999’s Girl, Interrupted, young Elisabeth Moss got her first chance to work with big stars like Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.
- According to Moss, most actors on the set belonged to either Ryder’s or Jolie’s “camp,” based largely on the movie’s script.
- The actress admits that Jolie’s camp was intimidating to her, and she didn’t feel like she could ever join such a cool clique.
Streets have gangs. High schools have cliques. Some movie sets, apparently, have “camps” — some sort of a mix between the two. Elisabeth Moss recently revealed how the filming of her, Winona Ryder, and Angelina Jolie’s 1999 movie saw the actors split into two factions that were, surprisingly, based on the film’s script.
Tale of Two Camps: Ryder vs. Jolie
Recently, Elisabeth Moss sat down with the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast and talked about the filming of 1999’s Girl, Interrupted. Moss was around 15 or 16 years old at the time, and she was excited to work with such huge stars like Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie; she did not, however, anticipate that the two actresses’ star power would tear the cast into two cliques that wouldn’t vibe with each other.
“There were two kinds of camps. There was the Winona Ryder camp and the Angelina Jolie camp. [They existed] off camera, but based on what was on camera, based on the script. I was in the Winona Ryder camp. The Angelina Jolie camp was really cool. I was intimidated by the Angelina Jolie camp,” Moss shared.
Well, that’s a first! How did those two semi-warring camps co-exist on the set, though? Admittedly, they barely interacted with each other, judging by Moss’ words.
Camps Brought Tension to the Set
Generally speaking, you don’t want your actors to be this separated, but director James Mangold couldn’t do anything about it. Girl, Interrupted had to film with its actors separated into two cliques, and for the youngest stars, including Elisabeth Moss, it added a lot of tension to the process. That’s how she described it.
“I had no thoughts of ever being able to be in [Jolie’s] camp. I’ve spoken to Angelina since then and she’s lovely, but at the time it was just incredibly intimidating. I never brought it up. I’m sure she would have no idea what I was talking about anyway. I was just definitely not cool enough to be in her camp,” the actress recalled.
That doesn’t seem to have been the most welcoming or healthy atmosphere for collaboration, but Girl, Interrupted still pulled through. Despite getting a mixed critical reception, the movie was largely enjoyed by the audience, and Angelina Jolie even won an Oscar for her intense performance in it — speaking of cool camps.