DISNEYLAND — Even before Johnny Depp tattooed “Winona Forever” as a symbol of undying affection back in the good old days, we all knew there was something special about Ms Winona Laura Horowitz, aka Winona Ryder.

After all, she was the “It ingenue” of ’80s and ’90s Hollywood, the Queen Bee of Generation X. Sure, the 41-year-old actress has had her fair share of ups (Edward Scissorhands, Heathers, Reality Bites) and downs (Marc Jacobs, anyone?), as she stoically acknowledged during our one-on-one chat. But the unmistakable enigmatic aura is still there.

That dark hair, that porcelain skin, those doe-like, deep eyes and that fragility mixed with enthusiasm, it has never quite gone away. And she’s still working her star power in smaller, but pivotal, roles. Like voicing Elsa Van Helsing in Tim Burton’s latest flick, Frankenweenie, his heartwarmingly dark, stop-motion animated film about a boy and his dead dog.

She shared how knew exactly what Tim wanted. “He’s like (gesturing with her hands), ‘You know?’ And I’m like, ‘I know’. It’s about being small and keeping it real.”

This special connection, first ignited during the days of Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, seems to go beyond just hand signals and gestures. It’s palpable.

“I just saw (Frankenweenie) the other night and I was like crying! I was floored at the emotional response. I knew it was very special because it was very personal to (Tim), and I have been hearing about it for 25 years. So yes, when I watched it, I was crying,” she said.

She revealed that she would “literally do anything for him”. “If he asked me to sit and read the phone book, I would!” she said with a laugh. “And I’m sure he would make it into a masterpiece. Not from my acting, but from whatever visual (he’d come out with).”

It seems that even A-list friends do stuff together after office hours. Ryder also shared how she enjoyed just hanging out with the director. “Honestly — and I’m not just saying this — it really doesn’t feel like work. If I heard that he was in town doing that, I would go to him to say, ‘Hey do you have any time after work to just hang out?’ We were talking about this yesterday on the plane — about how with real friends, there can be periods when you don’t see them. And then when you do see them, it’s like yesterday! And he’s one of those people.

“What’s amazing is he’s the same guy that I met (all those years ago),” she continued. “But not in a stunted way. He, of course, grown, and very prolific, and he has a family and he has evolved. As all of us — we’ve grown up,” she said.

“I really love him so much. And I’ll do anything for him really. But Frankenweenie is a real special one.”

And what about Heathers 2, we asked. As sequels go, fans everywhere will flock to see that one.

“Yes! Yes! Tell them to write it, and I’ll do it,” she said.

Then we get to see those lovely eyes lighting up again — and it’s a nice reminder why Winona will be forever. Genevieve Loh

Frankenweenie is currently showing in cinemas.