Meet Molly Ringwald's Stunning Daughter Mathilda

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Best known for her teen queen performances in '80s classics "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," and "Sixteen Candles," actress Molly Ringwald is also a mother of three having given birth to twins Adele and Roman in 2009 and daughter Mathilda Gianopoulos six years earlier. At their red-carpet appearances together at everything from the Tribeca Film Festival to the American Ballet Theatre Fall Gala, the latter has been described by many as the Hollywood star's spitting image. And she's now following in her famous mom's acting footsteps, too.

But what else do we know about Ringwald and her husband Panio Gianopoulos' contribution to the nepo baby discourse? Which of her mother's old-school classics left a lasting impression? And how exactly did she get into trouble with both her parents and the cops at the age of 16? Here's a look at Mathilda's story so far.

Molly Ringwald proved she wasn't entirely averse to the odd bit of TMI during a 2024 interview with The Times when she shared exactly where her first born Mathilda Gianopoulos had been conceived. And the showbizzy, anything-goes reputation of the location ensured that she made headlines.

Ringwald revealed that she and husband Panio Gianopoulos had got a little frisky in a dressing room that once belonged to Studio 54, the iconic nightclub famous for hosting Bianca Jagger on horseback, its glittery disco soundtrack, and its notoriously hedonistic party scene. "It's so Mathilda to be conceived in such an iconic place," acknowledged the actor who'd been playing singer-dancer Sally Bowles in a 2003 production of "Cabaret" at the venue at the time.

Ringwald was 36 years old when she became a first-time mother. And she admitted that having wanted children for her whole life, she felt the pressure of the ticking biological clock. "It had kind of become deafening," she said. "All I could think about was: must have kids." And she also found parenthood much harder to navigate than she expected: "As an actress, I've traveled a lot and learnt to live with instability, but that's not great for kids. That's something I am always looking to improve on and luckily I have a husband who is a planner and is very stable."

It appears as though Mathilda Gianopoulos was a somewhat precocious kid. In a 2010 interview with Babble, mom Molly Ringwald revealed (via People) that she'd just had a conversation with her then-six-year-old about the concept of war. "I've tried to figure out a way to talk to her about difficult subjects in ways she can understand," the "Sixteen Candles" star said.

Ringwald also revealed that even at such a young age, Gianopoulos already knew her own mind, particularly when it came to her fashion sense. "My daughter is very headstrong, especially with style and how she wants to do things," she said. "At one point she almost reduced me to tears because she wouldn't wear these expensive patent leather boots I bought her."

Having overcome this snubbing at her choice in designer footwear, Ringwald acknowledged that a difference in opinion is all part of the growing up process: "One of the hardest things parents have to accept is that they have to let their children express themselves, to love them, and allow them to be different."

Molly Ringwald certainly didn't have to worry about her first-born Mathilda Gianopoulos becoming a screen addict during her early childhood. For until she was of kindergarten age, the family didn't even own a TV. 

While most of her peers no doubt couldn't go a day without catching up on the latest adventures of "Peppa Pig" et al, Mathilda was more than happy to spend time pursuing more enriching activities. Even when Ringwald and her husband Panio Gianopoulos caved in and bought a TV, Mathilda refused to become a couch potato: "Not having had a television for that early time, she is not interested by television at all," Ringwald told Mother Jones in 2010. "She's much more interested in other stuff, which I'm kind of pleased about."

Mathilda, however, did want to watch her mom's most iconic film, "The Breakfast Club," when she reached the age of ten, something which Ringwald reluctantly allowed her to do alongside her. The joint viewing had a profound effect, particularly in how it inspired the youngster to open up about how she identified with Anthony Michael Hall's pressured student. "It was really an incredible experience to be able to have that conversation and actually feel like it changed my relationship with her and it changed my way of parenting," the Hollywood star explained to NPR.

Mathilda Gianopoulos might not have grown up watching much television. But that didn't stop her from wanting to be on it. Yes, the youngster expressed ambitions of becoming an actor from an early age. However, having experienced the pitfalls of child stardom herself, mom Molly Ringwald decided against allowing her to chase this dream.

"We wanted her to concentrate on being a kid," the "Pretty in Pink" star told The Times. "She fought us on that — she's still kind of mad about it, but it was the right decision. 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 crap shoot on whether or not the kids can make it through."

Ringwald made her screen debut in 1979 at the age of just 11 on family sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" before graduating to its spinoff "The Facts of Life" as Eastland Girls School's most vocal feminist Molly Parker. And it was here that she learned about the ruthlessness of the Hollywood machine. Alongside several of her fellow pre-teen cast members, she was dropped from the regular cast for Season 2. "Once you've been a regular and then you're booted to be a semi-regular, it was really hard and humiliating," the star told Entertainment Weekly.

Thanks to her roles in young adult classics "Pretty in Pink," "The Breakfast Club," and "Sixteen Candles," Molly Ringwald was one of those Hollywood stars that many teenage girls in the '80s wanted to be. But that didn't stop her own children, including eldest daughter Mathilda Gianopoulos, from viewing her as an embarrassing mom.

"In terms of been a teen queen and being the parent of a teenager, you would think that it would give me some points and make me a little cooler," Ringwald told the audience (via Us Weekly) while delivering a speech at the Center for Parent and Teen Communications in 2022. "It doesn't at all, it means absolutely nothing to them. To them, I'm just their mom and I'm just as dorky and out of touch ... as every other mom."

Still, at least Mathilda got something out of seeing the "of its time" drama "The Breakfast Club." Her younger sister Adele wasn't even allowed to view it over fears that she'd practically disown her mom, as Ringwald explained on "Watch What Happens Live." "I just don't know how I'm going to go through that you, you know, watching it with her and [her] saying, 'How could you do that? How could you be part of something [like] that?'"

As well as establishing herself as the '80s ultimate teen queen, Molly Ringwald has also achieved success in the publishing world. Not only has she written a memoir, 2010's "Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick," and 2012's fictional "When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories," she's also translated Philippe Besson's "Lie with Me" and Vanessa Schneider's "My Cousin Maria Schneider." And it seems as though her eldest daughter has inherited her bookworm traits, too.

Indeed, perhaps resulting from the absence of a television set in the family home for her early years, and the fact that her father Panio Gianopoulos is also an author, Mathilda became an enthusiastic reader from a young age. And by her mid-teens, she was devouring countercultural classics, as her mom proudly gushed to HuffPost: "My daughter has amazing taste in books. She loves Kurt Vonnegut, which I'd say the average 16-year-old isn't reading today. She really just gets books."

Ringwald was particularly pleased about how Mathilda's attention span is at odds with a generation obsessed with social media. "I think that makes things very hard. It makes it harder to focus, so they miss out on a lot of great things. I was really into films when I was young, and I could sit down and watch a long, slow-paced film. But I think kids are sort of losing their ability to do that now."

Although Molly Ringwald was keen to deter her eldest daughter from following in her child star footsteps, she did allow Mathilda Gianopoulos to step onto a movie set for one exception.

In 2015, the then 12-year-old Gianopoulos made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in Jon Chu's "Jem and the Holograms," the big-screen live-action adaptation of the much-loved 80s cartoon in which Ringwald played the leading lady's Aunt Bailey. "She loves acting," Ringwald said. "We don't want her to do it professionally, but we really loved Jon ... and so we did it" (via Today).

Although Chu served as director for 99% of the film, he did allow Ringwald to take the chair for a special mother-daughter moment. "It's very daunting to direct your almost-teenage daughter," the Hollywood star admitted. "I think it's the only time that she's ever listened to me!" But if Gianopoulos was hoping that her parents would relent their anti-acting stance after the experience, she soon had to think again. In fact, it would be another nine years before she stepped in front of the cameras again.

Mathilda Gianopoulos might have made her screen debut in wholesome kids' movie "Jem and the Holograms." But just a few years later, she appeared to put her hat in the ring for a sequel to teen caper "Project X." For the 16-year-old took advantage of her parents' absence to stage a house party that got wildly out of hand.

In fact, mom Molly Ringwald later told "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" that the rager was ten times crazier than anything she'd ever seen on a Hollywood set. "It was like 200 people at our house — I'm not kidding," she recalled (via Today). Luckily, the cops intervened before too much trouble was caused, although Mathilda tried her best to shoo them away.

"The police arrived and my daughter, who evidently has seen too many 'Law and Orders,' told the police that they couldn't come in without a warrant," added Ringwald, now able to see the funny side of the teenage hijinks. "But apparently the police just sort of said, 'Get out of the way,' and made everyone go home."

You might have had to squint to see Mathilda Gianopoulos in 2015's live-action adaptation of "Jem and the Holograms." But she firmly took center stage two years later when she graced the catwalk for retailer J. Crew.

Yes, proving that nepotism is also very much a thing in the world of preppy fashion, the then-13-year-old daughter of Molly Ringwald joined actress Liv Freundlich, the then-14-year-old daughter of Academy Award winner Julianne Moore, to help show off the company's latest collection. The former sported a military-inspired top, tiered skirt, and plaid ruffle complete with turquoise shoes for the occasion. And she was supported by her number one fan in the audience, too.

Yes, Ringwald was there to cheer and holler from the side of the catwalk and later proudly posted photos of the event on her Instagram account, admitting that she was now something of a "stage mom" in the caption. Gianopoulos may have been given a notable leg-up for her first modeling stint, but she obviously impressed. Three years on, she was also invited to participate in the New York Fashion Week collection staged by Andrew Warren.

After being deterred from the perils of child stardom from her protective parents, Mathilda Gianopoulos proved that her interest in pursuing an acting career wasn't just a fad when she bagged her first notable screen role at the age of 19.

The eldest daughter of '80s teen queen Molly Ringwald landed a supporting part in "The Idea of You," the Amazon original romantic comedy in which Anne Hathaway's 40-something mom strikes up a connection with Nicholas Galitzine's much younger boyband pin-up. Gianopoulos plays Georgia, the best friend of the former's daughter Izzy, who inadvertently introduces the unlikely lovebirds to each other after bagging tickets to a festival meet-and-greet.

This wasn't Gianopoulos' first notable acting gig, though. She also showed off her thespian talents at Topanga's Theatricum Botanicum, performing in Shakespeare productions. And she was also directed by her mom for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in "Jem and the Holograms." But Ringwald doesn't buy into the whole nepo baby discourse, telling USA Today, "Of course, if you have a parent in the industry, it's something that you've heard about and might be genetically predisposed to."

As well as forging her own path in the world of showbiz with her first notable role in "The Idea of You," Mathilda Gianopoulos also left the family nest to set up her own place shortly after. Luckily, Molly Ringwald, who still has her husband Panio Gianopoulos and their twins Adele and Roman at home, appears to be taking this big life change well.

"She really needed to have her own space," the "Monster" star acknowledged to The Times before revealing how she can relate to Mathilda's situation. "As much as I loved my parents, I was definitely ready to move out as soon as I turned 18," she added before revealing that her firstborn still visits regularly with a pile of dirty laundry in tow.

And Ringwald, who raised her family in Los Angeles before uprooting to upstate New York in the mid-2010s, believes that the distance won't impact the bond she has with Mathilda: "We're both very passionate, so 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 might now be establishing herself as an independent woman with her own place in Brooklyn and acting roles entirely unrelated to her mother's. But she still asks for advice from the far more experienced Molly Ringwald when the occasion calls.

In a joint red-carpet interview with People at the American Ballet Theatre Fall Gala, Gianopoulos revealed the most valuable words of wisdom that her mom had passed on. "Be prepared to wait and be nice, which you should always be anyways." Ringwald then chimed in, "Remember people's names."

And the latter couldn't be prouder of how her first-born had taken her lessons on board. "[It's] something that we thought a lot about," she explained about Gianopoulos' desire to become an actor. "She learned how to do it before but it's a hard job and I think she knows what she's in for."