Winona Ryder has heaped praise on intense actor Michael Shannon, revealing he is the first co-star who has left her terrified and sobbing on a film set since late icon Jason Robards.

The actress plays Shannon's wife in new movie The Iceman and she insists he reminds her of the movie greats who made her want to become an actress.

She says, "I've worked with some great leading men over the years - Daniel Day Lewis, Gary Oldman, Richard Gere - and Michael is right up there with them.

"Michael is one of these actors who has a certain spark, who reminds me of why I wanted to be an actor in the first place... Nothing against any of the other wonderful actors I've worked with, but that is a very rare and very special thing."

But Ryder admits working with Shannon, who refuses to rehearse with his co-stars, can be shattering at times.

She explains, "He made it frightening sometimes. In one scene, where we argue and he storms out of the room, the script just says, 'Michael leaves the room and goes to the garage,' but when he left the room he was furious and he knocked things over and pushed everything off the table. I was honestly scared, and afterwards I even started crying. It was all unexpected, which made the reaction much more real."