Winona Ryder in GQ reveals Mel Gibson's early anti-Semitism, avoids shoplifting topic

Winona Ryder, who appears in a minor but powerful role in "Black Swan," takes time to reflect on her life as a former Hollywood ingenue.

In the January issue of GQ (on newsstands Dec. 21), the actress particularly recalls a fateful meeting with Mel Gibson.

"I remember, like, 15 years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk," she says. "I was with my friend, who's gay. [Gibson] made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers,' but I didn't get it. I'd never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, 'He's anti-Semitic and he's homophobic.' No one believed me!"

She also artfully avoids the topic of her former shoplifting arrest, although she says she was on pain killers a few extra weeks beyond needing them. That's about as edgy as the interview gets, but it's a nice feature on the star who featured in many young men's dreams in the '90s.

"To put it in merciless Hollywood-math terms, she's too old to coquette and too young to cougar," says the magazine. This suits Ryder's role in "Black Swan," as a ballerina who fights against being supplanted by a younger dancer.

"I thought it was a cool parallel," she says. "Being replaced by the young thing. I know that definitely happens in Hollywood. It's harder to find good roles, and suddenly there's new girls. I'm at that age I've been warned my whole life about."