Molly Ringwald Shared Brutally Honest And Condemning Feelings About Working With John Hughes

Publish date: 2024-08-10

Highlights

Molly Ringwald, a beloved member of the Brat Pack, was one of the most famous teenagers in Hollywood during the 1980s. She starred in classic films such as The Breakfast Club. Three of her iconic, early films were produced, directed, or written by comedy legend John Hughes.

Ringwald was young and on the top of the world when she became a household name to an entire generation. In more recent years, however, Ringwald has revisited her collaborations with Hughes. While these films made her famous, they have left her with complex and condemning feelings. In this article, we will discuss Ringwald's brutally honest opinions on Hughes and his work, her teenage acting career with Hughes, and what her legacy is.

What Has Molly Ringwald Said About Collaborator John Hughes?

John Hughes, who was behind films such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and so many more timeless comedies, was a powerful force in Hollywood in the 1980s. He made hit film after hit film. Hughes's work became a pop culture phenomenon and shaped a generation of adolescents and teenagers.

Known for frequently collaborating with the same actors and actresses, Hughes took a particular interest in a teenaged Molly Ringwald. After working on Sixteen Candles together, Hughes became almost fixated on her, according to Showbiz CheatSheet. He would even write movies specifically for her to star in. The feelings were mutual.

According to Ringwald, "I had a mad crush on him. Without a doubt, it's pretty heady stuff to have somebody who is so inspired by you that they are writing movies (for you), and studios are doing them."

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Hughes and Ringwald once had an undeniable bond. According to Showbiz CheatSheet, "Ringwald became Hughes' muse." Hughes and Ringwald made three films together until Ringwald decided to part ways in 1986. These include:

The actress credited the desire to evolve professionally and personally as the reason for not working with Hughes again.

In a 2009 People interview, Ringwald elaborated, "John saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself. Eventually, though, I felt that I needed to work with other people as well. I wanted to grow up, something I felt (rightly or wrongly) I couldn't do while working with John." She also claimed that Hughes had "changed", according to Showbiz CheatSheet.

Since maturing into her adulthood, Ringwald has become critical of some of her work with Hughes. During the #MeToo movement, Ringwald revisited her iconic films, including The Breakfast Club, and got an unsettling feeling. As a result, she decided to pen an essay for The New Yorker, entitled "What About 'The Breakfast Club?', to discuss her thoughts. According to the actress, the Hughes films that made her famous "could also be considered racist, misogynistic, and, at times, homophobic."

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She further explained that Hughes frequently used expletives in the films, even though they were targeted towards teenagers, and created questionable characters based on stereotypes.

Additionally, she recognized that key scenes in some of her films were inappropriate and disrespectful towards women. To exemplify this, Ringwald highlighted how Bender inappropriately interacts with Claire, her character, in The Breakfast Club. "As I can see now, Bender... harasses Claire throughout the film. When he's not [inappropriately pursuing] her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her 'pathetic,' mocking her as 'Queenie.' It's rejection that inspires his vitriol...He never apologizes for any of it, nevertheless, he gets the girl in the end."

While Ringwald eventually became critical of some of her most famous work, she still looks back fondly on her time as a teenage actress. Her Hughes films shaped her career, and have become a part of American pop culture. She even admitted that she wished she had kept collaborating with Hughes after 1986. In a February 2024 NPR "Fresh Air" interview, Ringwald said that "I got typecast anyway, so I should've just kept working with him."

What Is Molly Ringwald's Legacy?

Molly Ringwald was a teen idol in the 1980s, and will be immortalized as "The Princess" in The Breakfast Club, among other notable roles. John Hughes made her a star and one of the most famous teenage girls in America.

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While Ringwald eventually stopped working with Hughes, she made two other teen-themed films in the late 1980s. For Keeps and Fresh Horses did indeed typecast Ringwald. The actress would later star in films such as:

Ringwald's love of French culture eventually led her to become a French movie star in the 1990s. She would return to America and appear in popular TV shows including Riverdale and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. While Ringwald is a seasoned entertainer, her net worth is not as impressive as some fans would imagine.

Ringwald certainly has had a long and diverse career. However, she is best remembered for her teenage films with John Hughes. Ringwald, as suggested in her "Fresh Air" interview, recognizes this. While the actress may have conflicting feelings about her work with Hughes, she can take pride in being a part of some of the most iconic films of a generation. More importantly, she can find comfort and peace in publicly acknowledging her brutally honest and condemning feelings about Hughes' style of comedy.

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