Molly Ringwald

Acting

Molly Ringwald

Born 1968-02-18 · Roseville, California, USA

Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an orphan in a stage production of the musical Annie. She and several other members of the original Facts of Life cast were let go when the show was reworked by the network. She subsequently made her motion-picture debut as Miranda in the independent film Tempest (1982), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year. Ringwald is primarily known for her collaborations with filmmaker John Hughes. She established herself as a teen icon after appearing in the successful Hughes films Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). She later starred in The Pick-up Artist (1987), Fresh Horses (1988), and For Keeps (1988). She starred in many films in the 1990s, most notably Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992), The Stand (1994), and Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade (1994 short film – precursor to Sling Blade). Ringwald had regular roles on the television series The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008 - 2013) as Anne Juergens, Riverdale(2017 - 2023) as Mary Andrews, and Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024) as Joanne Carson. She is also recognized by younger audiences for her role as Sara Flynn in The Kissing Booth movies. Ringwald was part of the "Brat Pack", and she was ranked number one on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.

Acting credits

One Night Only poster
7.0

Two love-starved strangers crash into each other on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex.

One Night Only

2026

Not Another Teen Movie poster
5.8

On a bet, a gridiron hero at John Hughes High School sets out to turn a bespectacled plain Jane into a beautiful and popular prom queen in this outrageous send-up of the teen movies of the 1980s and '90s.

Not Another Teen Movie

2001

The Breakfast Club poster
7.7

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

The Breakfast Club

1985

The Kissing Booth poster
7.2

When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.

The Kissing Booth

2018

The Kissing Booth 2 poster
7.6

With college decisions looming, Elle juggles her long-distance romance with Noah, changing relationship with bestie Lee and feelings for a new classmate.

The Kissing Booth 2

2020

Sixteen Candles poster
6.7

With the occasion all but overshadowed by her sister's upcoming wedding, angst-ridden Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha pines for studly older boy Jake, but worries that her chastity will be a turnoff for the popular senior. Meanwhile, she must constantly rebuff the affections of nerdy Ted, who is unfortunately the only boy in school who seems to take an interest in her.

Sixteen Candles

1984

Pretty in Pink poster
6.7

Andie is an outcast, hanging out either with her older boss, who owns the record store where she works, or her quirky high school classmate Duckie, who has a crush on her. When one of the rich and popular kids at school, Blane, asks Andie out, it seems too good to be true. As Andie starts falling for Blane, she begins to realize that dating someone from a different social sphere is not easy.

Pretty in Pink

1986

Siberia poster
4.8

Lucas, a diamond trader who travels to Saint Petersburg to arrange a sale, discovers that his Russian business partner has left his hotel and gone to a small Siberian village, so Lucas also heads there to try find him.

Siberia

2018

Run Amok poster
2.0

A teenage girl decides to stage a musical reenactment of a tragedy that took place at her high school 10 years ago.

Run Amok

2026

Wishin' and Hopin' poster
4.8

Felix Funicello is a Catholic school fifth-grader in 1964, whose claim to fame is his cousin Annette Funicello, the famous Mouseketeer and teen movie queen. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas!

Wishin' and Hopin'

2014

Teaching Mrs. Tingle poster
5.5

A bright high-school senior has her impending status as valedictorian jeopardized when her bitter history teacher, Mrs. Tingle, gives her a poor grade on a project. When an attempt to get ahead in Mrs. Tingle's class goes awry, mayhem ensues and friendships, loyalties and trust are tested by the teacher's intricate mind-games.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle

1999

The Kissing Booth 3 poster
6.9

It’s the summer before Elle heads to college, and she has a secret decision to make. Elle has been accepted into Harvard, where boyfriend Noah is matriculating, and also Berkeley, where her BFF Lee is headed and has to decide if she should stay or not.

The Kissing Booth 3

2021

King Cobra poster
5.8

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.

King Cobra

2016

BRATS poster
6.0

In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.

BRATS

2024

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films poster
7.2

A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

2014

Jem and the Holograms poster
5.5

As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. Four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.

Jem and the Holograms

2015

The Pick-up Artist poster
5.7

A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.

The Pick-up Artist

1987

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone poster
5.4

On a distant planet inhabited by mutants, two bounty hunters race to rescue three Earth female captives from the clutches of an evil warlord.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

1983

For Keeps poster
6.5

Young high school couple Darcy Elliot and Stan Bobrucz are one year from graduation, with promising futures ahead of them. But their paths take a drastic turn when Darcy becomes pregnant. Unwilling to go through an abortion or an adoption — despite their parents' pleas — Darcy and Stan decide to sacrifice their college experiences and degrees in order to keep and raise the baby. After a quick marriage, the two realize it won't be as easy as they thought.

For Keeps

1988

Office Killer poster
5.1

When Dorine Douglas' job as proofreader for Constant Consumer magazine is turned into an at-home position during a downsizing, she doesn't know how to cope. But after accidentally killing one of her co-workers, she discovers that murder can quench the loneliness of her home life, as a macabre office place forms in her basement, populated by dead co-workers.

Office Killer

1997

Johnny Appleseed poster
NR

Shelley Duvall acted as host for this 1980s television series about legendary characters and historical events. This volume chronicles Jonathan Chapman (Martin Short), who loves two things: apples and his sweetheart, Jenny Smith (Molly Ringwald). Following Mother Nature's advice, he travels the countryside and sows apple seeds along the way, riling Smithville's imperious ruler (Rob Reiner) in this timeless American yarn.

Johnny Appleseed

1986

Catherine & Michael poster
NR

An unhappily married couple visits their do-everything-right friends for a supposedly fun weekend upstate. But when their fragile relationship crumbles, they discover an unusual method for reigniting the spark.

Catherine & Michael

2023

Cut poster
4.6

A group of film students set out to finish filming a movie that was never completed after its director was murdered. After they begin filming, they realize they're in for a bit of trouble, not unlike the late director...

Cut

2000

Fresh Horses poster
5.3

A Cincinnati college student breaks off his engagement to his wealthy fiancée after he falls in love with a backwoods Kentucky girl he meets at a party. She says she's 20, but he finds out she's 16 and married to an abusive husband.

Fresh Horses

1988