'Stranger Things' actress Winona Ryder cried for 10 hours during Christmas lights scene

Actress Winona Ryder poses with the award she won for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for her role in "Stranger Things" backstage at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 29, 2017. (Reuters)

One of the most memorable scenes from the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” wasn’t so easy for Winona Ryder to create in front of cameras.

The 45-year-old actress played Joyce Byers, a mother unraveling after her son Will goes missing. In episode three, Joyce reaches a breaking point after discovering she can somehow communicate with her son via Christmas lights.

“She knew we were going to have to turn her inside out, emotionally,” producer/director Shawn Levy told Vanity Fair. He recalled how Ryder drank water all day to prepare for the dramatic scene.

“For 10 hours, she was depleting her liquids through her tears,” explained Levy. “It would never occur to me, ‘Oh, you should probably hydrate because all of your water is coming out through your tear ducts all day.’”

The show, which pays tribute to classic sci-fi classics, such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and "E.T.” received praised from many — including Steven Spielberg, who reached out personally and was “so complimentary.”

“We don’t talk about the fact that it’s got nods to him left and right, but I think that’s the unspoken, acknowledged flattery inherent in the show,” said Levy.