Winona Ryder has opened up about experiencing anti-Semitism in Hollywood, describing comments that executives and fellow actors have made to her about her Jewish heritage.
The 48-year-old spoke in a recent interview with U.K. paper The Times about one specific moment she says involved actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson.
Ryder recalled: "We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking, and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?'"
The actress, born Winona Laura Horowitz, added to the paper that Gibson tried to apologize at a later date.
Rumors of anti-Semitism have followed Gibson for years. "Passion of the Christ," the 2004 film he directed, was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for what it called a "blood-thirsty" depiction of Jews. In 2006, Gibson made headlines when he was arrested for drunk driving and shouting "f------ Jews," among other comments, per The Los Angeles Times' transcript of the arrest.
Spokespeople for Gibson did not immediately respond to TODAY's request for comment.
Ryder also told The Times that her heritage has affected her ability to secure acting roles as well.
"There are times when people have said, ‘Wait, you’re Jewish? But you’re so pretty!’" she said. "There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago — it was a period piece — and the studio head, who was Jewish, said I looked ‘too Jewish’ to be in a blue-blooded family.”
She revealed that her heritage is something she thinks about often, even if she doesn't address it publicly.
She told The Times that she is "not religious" but does "identify" with being Jewish. "It’s a hard thing for me to talk about because I had family who died in the camps, so I’ve always been fascinated with that time," she said.