Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder used to date?

All of us are aware of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s disastrous breakup. But how many of us remember that Johnny and Winona Ryder used to date back in the 90s? It is probably Johnny’s most overlooked romantic relationship, which is sad considering how cute they looked together.

Early relationship between Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder

Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder were hot item back in the 90s. They saw each other for the first time in 1989 at the premiere of Great Balls of Fire! Both of them later affirmed that it was love at first sight. It seems as if the couple is a match made in heaven. Depp later recalled that:

It was a classic glance, like the zoom lenses in West Side Story, and everything else gets foggy.

Johnny and Winona met formally later through a mutual friend, Josh Richman. Winona admitted:

“I thought maybe he would be a real jerk, but he was really, really shy.”

The then 26-year-old actor was instantly smitten with the 17-year-old Winona.

Johnny Depp shared:

“When I met Winona and we fell in love, it was absolutely like nothing before. We hung out the whole day…and night, and we’ve been hanging out ever since. I love her more than anything in the whole world.”

Engagement:

Winona had never had a boyfriend before Johnny. Which is understandable, considering she was 17 at the time. But that didn’t stop the power couple from following their feelings. They got engaged after just five months of dating and moved in together a month later. It really came as a shock to fans, considering Johnny has been engaged twice before. But none of this stopped the Beetlejuice star from going in headfirst:

People assume it bothers me that he’s been engaged before but it really doesn’t. We have a connection on a deeper level. We have the same coloring, but we’re from very different backgrounds, so we’re interested in each other all the time.

The Gossip:

Johnny Depp got “Winona Forever” tattooed on his arm. Winona has also publicly stated that Johnny was “my first everything.” The couple also had Winona’s family’s stamp of approval. Actually, they were fans of Johnny Depp. When they visited the family home, they would get pampered for hours. “They love him a lot and even bring me and Johnny breakfast. They’re so cool,” Winona said. Depp and Ryder also starred together in the movie “Edward Scissorhands” which cemented their relationship as a Hollywood couple.

The Breakup:

The hot couple fell apart in 1993 during the filming of Ed Wood. Co-actor Tim Burton described Johnny Depp’s weary condition after the breakup. He would come to the set broken up and crying. Tim said:

I asked him why it happened but all he said was, ‘It wasn’t her fault, it was mine.’ And when he met Kate in January of ’94, it wasn’t the same as Winona. I felt weird to be around him like he wasn’t acting like Johnny anymore. It’s almost like Winona took Johnny’s soul, Johnny’s love.

Even Winona was struck after her breakup with Johnny. She describes her first actual heartbreak as:

“I was very depressed after breaking off my engagement with Johnny. I was embarrassingly dramatic at the time. One night I fell asleep with a lit cigarette and woke up to the flames. I haven’t visited that dark side since. That was what you might say my ‘wake-up call.’ “

Amber Heard Controversy:

Winona Ryder was asked to comment on Amber Heard’s domestic violence case on Johnny Depp. She spoke out in his ex’s defense:

I can only speak from my own experience, which was wildly different than what is being said. He was never, never that way towards me. Never abusive at all towards me. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.