The Molly Ringwald (Roseville, California, 56 years old) who triumphed in a big way in the eighties, when her unmistakable red hair, her lips always smeared with lipstick and her charismatic normality became a symbol of adolescence in the United States (and by contagion cultural, in the rest of the world), is similar in many ways to the Ringwald who has just played one of Capote's swans in the HBO series, where she played the role of Joanne Carson, the author's faithful friend.
The actress, whom John Hughes turned into a global phenomenon with his light comedies, was already a woman full of deep cultural concerns who, after having starred in
16 Candles
,
The Breakfast Club
and
Pretty in Pink,
was offered to play to Holly Golightly in a remake of
Breakfast at Tiffany's
.
It was never produced.
It was those concerns related to literature that actually saved his life when, at the peak of his success, he decided to abandon his career in Hollywood and go to live in France, where his film star faded while those of his other passions lit up: translation and writing.
Her great return occurred in 2017 when, in the midst of MeToo, she wrote an essay titled
The Other Harvey Weinstein
for the prestigious magazine
The New Yorker
, in which she finally explained the reasons for her flight to Europe: tired of an industry in which sexual abuse was the order of the day, her patience was exhausted when not even her agent was willing to protect her.
In 2018 he became news again thanks to a report in which he reviewed the sexual behavior of the characters in
The Breakfast Club
, a film that he had sat down to watch with his daughter.
Ringwald, who had never given any opinion on his own film production, dared to say that those films could be considered misogynistic, homophobic and racist in today's light.
And despite this, they continued to serve as a refuge for many viewers who are left with the portrait of adolescent psychology that endures today.
Molly Ringwald wears jacket, sweater and skirt by BALENCIAGA and shoes by PRADA.Paola Kudacki
Joanne Carson and Truman Capote were expelled from their usual circles.
Has she ever felt pushed out of Hollywood?
Yes, after the success I had with the films I made in my adolescence, there was a period of time where I felt invisible, despised, no one valued me for who I was.
And what do you think it was due to?
I think it had to do with the ambivalence I feel towards everything related to fame.
I take some responsibility, but Hollywood is a very tough business.
There are a lot of very talented people, and there is always someone, no matter how successful or famous you become, who tries to bring you down.
And also people who try to lift you up.
There are many elements at play.
And I'm not sure, but it may have to do with the fact that I acted in one of Harvey Weinstein's first films as a producer [Getting Rich] and I had to sue him [for breach of contract].
All the '90s movies I wanted to do were produced by Weinstein, so I felt like that didn't help.
And I think it also had a lot to do with me wanting to pursue different paths in my life.
Could it also have had an influence that you had been a teenage icon and it was difficult to stop seeing her like that?
If it can be.
Don't know.
But I tend to look at what has happened to me as if they were blessings in disguise, because I have always wanted to have longevity as an actress, not just be known for one thing, and I think that life has allowed me to have a more interesting career and come back from a stronger way.
In
Feud
he has shared the bill with Demi Moore.
The two were once considered part of the Brat Pack [young American teenage actors].
Did you feel as uncomfortable with that label as everyone else?
I'm glad you told it that way instead of me having to explain it.
I'm glad the origin of the label is understood and that it hurt its members.
It was never positive.
He united us with a bunch of young people who were working and starting our careers and he despised us, calling us brats.
It didn't help any of us.
Have you ever fantasized about having lived an ordinary, anonymous adolescence?
Yes, but I think if I had had it, I would have fantasized about having the one I had.
It's the one I had, and I wasn't aware of being an international star.
I knew that in some places they knew me, but for example, in Spain the impact of my films was much greater than in France.
You were on the cover of Time in 1986 and in the text you were defined as an “exemplary Californian teenager.”
How did you forge a personality when the media had already assigned you one?
It wasn't until I was older that I felt able to represent myself, with my own writing.
Social media allows artists and well-known people to interact directly with the public without intermediaries and that has been very inspiring.
I felt like for the first time people could begin to understand who I really was.
Molly Ringwald wears body, skirt and belt by PRADA.PAOLA KUDACKI
She has an interdisciplinary career spanning more than 40 years, but she is remembered for her teenage films.
How is she handling it?
I guess it depends on the day.
I think I'm handling it well.
I feel like people also remember me for other things I've been doing.
And even if they only remember me for those movies, I think they're good movies, so that's fine with me.
He has published two books and several articles.
She is also a translator and singer.
What do those other facets give you that acting doesn't?
They activate different parts of the brain.
Interpreting for me is something very instinctive.
Of course there is technique behind it, but to do it well, I have to forget about it.
Translating, on the other hand, seems to me to be a very cerebral and intellectual activity, because there is poetry in it.
And it's also something that happens to me with music.
My dream is to involve all disciplines.
Are you working on a project?
Yes, I hope to one day be able to direct, write and star in a film, and maybe involve French in it.
And I'm also writing a novel and a memoir about my years in Paris.
Why about those years?
I wrote an article for
The New Yorker
about my experience working with Godard [Ringwald worked with him on King Lear].
My agent wrote to me to say that maybe I should write about the best time of my life, and I immediately thought of those years.
The actress wears a yellow coat by GIVENCHY.PAOLA KUDACKI
In a time when we tend to see everything as black or white, his articles for The
New Yorker
strive to be non-judgmental.
That is also seen in the text he wrote about when he saw
The Breakfast Club with his daughter Matilda.
I'm not interested in totally good or totally bad characters.
Running away from that makes the characters real and interesting.
It's something I always look for in the projects I embark on.
The characters in The Breakfast Club had flaws, they seemed real.
The characters are archetypes, but, as I wrote in that article, there are many people of different origins, ethnicities and life experiences, who continue to feel attached to The Breakfast Club, because I believe that what the film basically says is that Despite our differences, we are the same, there is a connection.
And that is a very powerful message.
Matilda is an actress.
Has she given you any professional advice?
Yes, but I also try to get her to discover things on her own.
From a very young age we knew that she was going to be an artist, but both her father and I did not allow her to be a child actress and we tried to dissuade her for many years.
Now she knows that it is a hard profession and in which she suffers a lot of rejection.
At the same time, she doesn't use her name, nor does she want me to talk about her in interviews, because, with the whole nepo babies thing, she doesn't want to be associated with me.
But she is very good.
The best advice I have given her is for her to practice more than one artistic discipline.
Do you think teenagers today are very different from those of the 1980s?
There are differences, but in general the essence is the same.
That's one of the reasons The Breakfast Club still resonates today.
But of course social media has a huge impact.
I feel like their brains are changing because of how they consume them and the speed at which they do it.
Because of how your attention span has changed.
I see that it is very difficult for them to concentrate, to sit down and read a book quietly.
As for the rest, the feelings of a teenager are universal.
Jumpsuit, belt, shoes and gloves by SAINT LAURENT.PAOLA KUDACKI
One of her jobs as a translator was to translate Maria Schneider's biography in which she talks about the rape scene for which Bertolucci did not ask her permission.
Did working with the stormy life of an actress like her make you reflect on her career?
Yes. In some ways I'm glad I didn't go through what she went through.
Maria died young of cancer, but before that she struggled with addiction for a long time, something I haven't gone through.
And her addictions for her had their roots in the trauma that she experienced [during the filming of Last Tango in Paris], which I have not experienced either.
It was like looking at an alternative life to the one I had had.
Ryan Murphy contacted you on Instagram to offer you the role, right?
Something like that.
While they were talking to my manager, Ryan messaged me and told me that he had something for me that he hoped I would be excited about.
And then, Jon Robin Baitz, writer of the series, called me on the phone and told me about the character and why they wanted me to do it.
He told me that I was the first choice of him, Ryan Murphy and Gus Van Sant [series director].
I listened to all the reasons and it was very convincing.
You have been defined as the muse of John Hughes.
How do you get along with the muse label?
That seems fine to me.
There are people who find it degrading, I don't.
A muse is someone who inspires.
We all find muses everywhere and I feel gratitude when I find one.
I just saw a
Vanity Fair
report about Sofia Coppola and her muses and clearly they are the women who have inspired and helped her in her films.
And I think that Sofia Coppola in turn is a muse because she inspires other people.
And what are yours?
Sofia Coppola, for example.
I consider my muses to be the people who have helped me in my creative processes.
For example, now that I'm writing a memoir I'm reading a lot of Vivian Gornick.
Her writing has everything a memoir should have.
Molly Ringwald in yellow coat by GIVENCHY.PAOLA KUDACKI
Coat, jacket and pants by ISSEY MIYAKE.PAOLA KUDACKI
Coat, jacket and pants by ISSEY MIYAKE and shoes by CHURCH'S.PAOLA KUDACKI