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Once gracing the big screen in flicks like “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club,” actress Molly Ringwald is all grown up and handing the reins to her 20-year-old daughter, Mathilda, who is now making her acting debut.
In an interview with The Times, Ringwald, 56, explained her hesitancy to allow Mathilda to pursue a career all too similar to her own.
“We wouldn’t let Mathilda pursue acting when she was a child as we wanted her to concentrate on being a kid. She fought us on that. She’s still kind of mad about it, but it was the right decision,” she said.
“I don’t think that professional acting is a great way for kids to grow up. It’s way too stressful, and it’s a crapshoot on whether or not the kids can make it through. I did my first professional job at 10 years old, and it was not easy.”
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Molly Ringwald said in a recent interview that her daughter, Mathilda, was likely conceived at Studio 54. (Getty Images)
But Mathilda is a young woman now and living separately from her parents. Earning her first acting credit in the upcoming Anne Hathaway-led romance “The Idea of You,” Ringwald alluded to knowing that Mathilda was destined for greatness based on where she was likely conceived.
“I believe that Mathilda was conceived in the dressing room at Studio 54 right at the end of my run playing Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret’ in 2003,” she said of the famous club-turned-Broadway theater. “It’s so Mathilda to be conceived in such an iconic place.”
Musical icon Diana Ross is pictured at the old Studio 54 in the ’80s. (Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
At the time, she and her now-husband, Panio Gianopoulos, were not married.
“My husband, Panio, an author and book editor, and I were both enchanted from the moment Mathilda was born. She was five weeks early, so she was on the smaller side, but she had these big, beautiful eyes. Even before she could talk, she had an amazing sense of humor and the best belly laugh,” she said. “I have recordings of her laughing, which I listen to when I want a little pick-me-up.”
Molly Ringwald and Panio Gianopoulos are photographed in 2005 with their daughter, Mathilda. (Gregory Pace/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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“She and I are both emotional and headstrong,” Ringwald added. “When she was learning to walk, if we helped her for a couple of steps, she would stop and say, “Do myself ‘lone” and go back and do it again. That’s still her attitude today, including in her acting career. She took Gianopoulos, her father’s name, instead of Ringwald. I said, ‘Are you sure? Ringwald is so much easier to spell, and it might open some doors.’ But she was adamant.”
Panio Gianopoulos and Molly Ringwald attend the Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2023, in New York City. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
“The nepo baby thing is ridiculous,” Ringwald said of the hot-button topic in Hollywood right now. “Of course, if you have a parent in the industry, it’s something that you’ve heard about and might be genetically predisposed to.”
“I’ve talked to Mathilda about navigating the spotlight, but everyone experiences it differently. Some people don’t mind living completely out loud. I’m not one of those people, and I don’t think she is either. We’re basically a family of introverts who have had to learn to be more extrovert because of what we do,” she said.
Molly Ringwald says she and her daughter, Mathilda, are both “headstrong.” (Nina Westervelt/WWD via Getty Images)
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Mathilda, who was also interviewed, echoed her mother’s sentiments, saying that she and her mother are “both very passionate.”
“We may have butted heads when I was growing up, but we also bonded over that. We’ve always felt more like sisters, and as I get older, we get closer and closer.”
Mathilda Gianopoulos says she and her mother have always felt like friends. (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for American Ballet Theatre)
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to caroline.thayer@fox.com.
