Actress Winona Ryder was forced to cry for 10 hours when shooting a scene for Stranger Things

ACTORS might be used to playing characters that impact them physically and emotionally but Ryder’s role in this hit Netflix show took things to a different level.

ONE OF the most memorable scenes from the hit Netflix series Stranger Things wasn’t so easy for Winona Ryder to create in front of cameras.

The 45-year-old actor played Joyce Byers, a mother unravelling after her son Will goes missing. In episode three, Joyce reaches a breaking point after discovering she can somehow communicate with her son via Christmas lights.

“She knew we were going to have to turn her inside out, emotionally,” producer/director Shawn Levy told Vanity Fair. He recalled how Ryder drank water all day to prepare for the dramatic scene.

Ryder’s role in Stranger Things was emotionally taxing.

“For 10 hours, she was depleting her liquids through her tears,” explained Levy. “It would never occur to me, ‘Oh, you should probably hydrate because all of your water is coming out through your tear ducts all day.’”

The show, which pays tribute to classic sci-fi classics, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. received praised from many — including Steven Spielberg, who reached out personally and was “so complimentary.”

“We don’t talk about the fact that it’s got nods to him left and right, but I think that’s the unspoken, acknowledged flattery inherent in the show,” said Levy.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and has been republished here with permission.