Here’s A Full Breakdown Of Molly Ringwald’s Disturbing Experience Of Being An ‘80s Child Star After She Admitted It Was “Peculiar” To Be Director John Hughes’s Muse As A Minor
“I was still only 15 years old, so I didn’t have a lot of life experience. It didn’t seem that strange to me. Now it does,” Molly said in a recent podcast appearance.
This article mentions sexual assault.
Back in the ‘80s, there was little more synonymous in pop culture than director John Hughes and teen actor Molly Ringwald, with Molly the star of three of John’s biggest movies: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty In Pink. Molly was just 15 years old when she filmed the first of the trio in 1984, and suffice to say, aspects of all of them did not age well.
In 2018, Molly actually publicly called out the “inappropriate” nature of the films in an article for the New Yorker, where she wrote of Sixteen Candles: “Back then, I was only vaguely aware of how inappropriate much of John’s writing was, given my limited experience and what was considered normal at the time.”
And in a recent appearance on the Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky podcast, Molly, now 57, has reflected some more on this movie — namely, the fact that then-34-year-old John wrote Sixteen Candles specifically for her after seeing her headshot, with Molly now admitting that it was “peculiar” for her to be a grown man’s muse at just 15.
Monica then asked Molly if she was aware of this at the time, and Molly said: “In terms of: ‘Did I know that I was a muse?’ I mean, he told me that story but, y’know, I had nothing really to compare it to. I was still only 15 years old, so I didn’t have a lot of life experience. It didn’t seem that strange to me… I mean, now it does.”
Later in the interview, Molly admitted that she struggled with being famous at such a young age as she recalled a disturbing incident with the paparazzi when she was just a teenager. The star explained that she’d had “varying degrees of fame” for her entire life, as she used to perform on stage with her dad when she was 3 years old.
Asked if there was a specific turning point for her, Molly recalled: “I was chased by the paparazzi and they trapped me in a revolving door in a hotel. The flashes kept going off, and you know how disorientating the flashes are, but then I was also in a revolving door that just kept turning and turning and turning. That was terrifying for me.”
After completing work on Sixteen Candles, John cast Molly and her costar Anthony Michael Hall in The Breakfast Club, which was released the following year. While this is widely regarded as one of the most iconic films of the ‘80s, it also has some problematic aspects that Molly addressed in her 2018 essay after watching the movie with her then-10-year-old daughter Mathilda in 2018.
Referencing the fact that a body double was used for the upskirt shot of Claire’s underwear, Molly wrote: “They couldn’t even ask me to do it — I don’t think it was permitted by law to ask a minor — but even having another person pretend to be me was embarrassing to me and upsetting to my mother, and she said so. That scene stayed, though.”
And Molly reflected on her complex feelings towards her experiences as a teen actor during her recent podcast appearance, where she said: “I wouldn’t have the career I have if it wasn’t for those movies, and I feel like I have a lot of privilege being in those. I don’t want to come across as corny; I’m very conscious that people [are] dealing with much bigger issues than me, but it’s still a lot to grapple with.”
Monica then mentioned Molly’s 2017 New Yorker article “All The Other Harvey Weinsteins,” which was written in response to the #MeToo movement. In the article, Molly said that she only worked with disgraced movie producer Harvey once, at 20 years old, but was “lucky” as she believes that, at the time, she “was the one with more power” because Harvey was yet to reach the level of acclaim that he eventually became renowned for.
Speaking to Monica, Molly said: “I’ve had many Harvey experiences with different people at a young age, and I’m still processing. I’ve processed it in a private way, and eventually, I’m going to be able to talk about it and write about it. I’m still grappling.”
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
