While the film established Winona Ryder as a cult queen, not everyone was thrilled with her performance in the 1988 film. Heather.

The Oscar-nominated actress recalled that her agent begged her on her knees not to take the role of Veronica Sawyer in the “very subversive” teen dark comedy from writer Daniel Waters and director Michael Lehmann.

Recalling the audition process, Ryder said in a video: Harper’s Bazaar“They didn’t think I was pretty enough, so I went across the street to the Beverly Center, to the Macy’s counter. They told me to get a makeover. Then I came back and said, ‘Here you go!’

“But my agent literally got on her knees and said, ‘Please, you’re going to ruin any chance I have of my career,'” Ryder said.

“But I actually lost my job right before the premiere. I was cast in the movie and the director was very offended,” she noted, adding, “I think I made the right decision.”

IN HeatherRyder plays the once-unpopular Veronica who joins the titular mean girl clique, which includes Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty). When she meets the mysterious new kid J.D. (Christian Slater), they start killing Heather and making their deaths look like suicides.

Although the film was considered a flop at the time, grossing $1.1 million worldwide, Heather has gained a legion of fans over the years. The film inspired an off-Broadway musical and a short-lived 2016 TV reboot, which was quickly canceled after it faced similar criticism to the source material.