Sure, Winona Ryder has a movie to promote — “Homefront,” starring Jason Statham — but she’d much rather talk about Lou Reed, if that’s OK. “I was supposed to see [the movie], but then Lou Reed died and I had to go to his memorial. And you know, I just haven’t been able to. But I usually see something before talking about it,” Ryder says with a laugh. ”And it’s also my first, like, this kind of movie.”

I’m still a bit broken up about Lou Reed, actually.
Yeah, I know. I am, too. It’s weird, isn’t it? I know he was 71, but I just didn’t expect it. I did not know him well. I had to follow him at Allen Ginsberg’s [memorial], giving eulogies. It’s like the scariest thing, following Lou Reed. But he was Lou Reed, you know?

Well, he was such a huge presence.
Last night, I was at a party for a movie that a friend of mine did, and there were these… “younger people.” (laughs) They’re talking about music, and it was like they didn’t know that he was in the Velvet Underground, they didn’t know anything about him. And they play music. I was like, “Walk on the Wild Side?” “Sweet Jane?” Like, the big ones, and they didn’t know them. It’s just crushing, you know? I actually played it on my phone for them.

Continue reading Interview: Winona Ryder talks being a badass biker chick in Homefront, and Lou Reed