TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Winona Ryder insists Ray Liotta is more than just a tough guy at the Iceman presser

“He’s also in Field of Dreams!” Winona Ryder insisted when someone pointed out that Ray Liotta has been in a lot of crime movies. Well, Liotta the crime-cinema heavy—who, as he pointed out, has played more bad cops than he has gangsters—is back with Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman, which stars Michael Shannon as real-life Gambino crime family hitman Richard Kuklinski. Ryder, who plays Shannon’s wife, Chris Evans, who plays a fellow hitman, and producer Ehud Bieberg were also in attendance, talking about the appeal of films set in the ’70s and the difficulty of wearing period facial hair. If we learned anything during this presser, it’s that you could shave ice on Michael Shannon’s steely glare. Though he’s made his name in recent years for energetic wig-out performances in Take Shelter and Boardwalk Empire, in real life Shannon’s incredibly cool (cucumbers could take a lesson). He noted, quite nonchalantly, that he signed on for The Iceman because he thought the character—a hitman, remember—was “interesting.” As for Vromen, he was attracted to the tension of a killer living as an ordinary dad. “When I was in law school, I was also a DJ,” said Vromen, referring to the duality that informs many of the characters in the film. We’re not sure if Vromen actually thinks that family man/contract killer is the same thing as law student/DJ, but sure, why not? Also: Winona Ryder said she was “psyched” to be 40, proving that she really is getting old. Who still says “psyched?”