Molly Ringwald follows maternal instincts
Molly Ringwald said “It was teenage, teenage, teenage, teenage, teenage, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom,”. It happened quickly for “All These Small Moments” star Molly Ringwald.
For years, Ringwald was the star of films filled with teen angst like “Sixteen Candles” to “The Breakfast Club.” Then she stopped getting offered those kinds of roles and started playing the mother of teens dealing with the angst.
“I did play a teenage mom so I got that first mom role out of the way really early,” Ringwald says. “It was interesting because I had been typecast as a teenager for so long that was how people saw me.
“I started wondering where the parts were in between. That was because for so long, they were not making movies where women were the main characters and doing something more than servicing the main story about a man. All the movies that were about women –– and they were few and far between would go to the same five women.”
Ringwald embraced the situation by looking for moms who got to do more. The latest such role for her is “All These Small Moments” in which she plays a wife and mother who is dealing with a crumbling marriage and a teenage son (Brendan Meyer) who is struggling with the feelings he has for a young woman he sees on the bus every day.
Ringwald was attracted to the film because there was more to just being the person who fixes lunches. The film gives her a chance to play a multidimensional character because of what she’s also dealing with in her marriage.
“I feel like she is a very well-rounded, authentic character,” Ringwald says.
“She seems very real to me. This was one of the first parts that I was offered where the mother seemed real even to the point where I thought people were going to hate me. I got to play her very sharp and cranky. I would rather watch someone like that than a fantasy mom.”
Along with Meyer and McCarthy, “All These Small Moments” features numerous young actors including Harley Quinn Smith and Elijah Boothe. Ringwald –– who has three children of her own –– has a motherly feeling when it comes to working, whether the actors are old or young.
She sees herself as being protective, but the one thing Ringwald has never done when dealing with young performers is to try to offer unsolicited advice regarding acting or life in general.
“I have been doing this long enough to know no teenager –– whoever they are –– appreciates unsolicited advice,” Ringwald says. “I also never want to usurp the role of the director. There really needs to be a sense of hierarchy on the set.
The motherly roles pop up more often these days but Ringwald’s career has been diverse. On television, she has worked on “The Facts of Life,” “The Stand,” “Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story” and the upcoming “Tales of the City.”
Ringwald has a recurring role on the CW Network series “Riverdale” playing Archie Andrews’ mother. Her film work includes “Tempest” and “Jem and the Holograms.”
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