Actress Molly Ringwald said her daughter Mathilda was conceived in a Studio 54 dressing room during “Cabaret.”
Ringwald shares three kids with husband Panio Gianopoulos, Mathilda, who is now 20 years old, and fraternal twins Adele and Roman, age 14. “The Breakfast Club” actress spoke candidly about her journey through motherhood during a recent interview with The Times. “I believe that Mathilda was conceived in the dressing room at Studio 54 right at the end of my run playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 2003,” Ringwald said. “It’s so Mathilda to be conceived in such an iconic place.”
Actress Molly Ringwald attends the “Dabka” Premiere during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater on April 27, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
The 56-year-old actress discussed what it was like to become a parent.
“I always knew I wanted to have children but it took me a while – I was 36 when she was born,” she told The Times.
Ringwald discussed how her age impacted her decision to start her own family.
“At that age the biological clock is a real thing and it had kind of become deafening,” she said.
Molly Ringwald attends The Moth Ball 25th Anniversary Gala at Spring Studios on May 26, 2022 in New York City. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Actress Molly Ringwald arrives at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre on March 7, 2010 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images
She noted how determined she was to become a mother, no matter what it took.
“All I could think about was: must have kids,” the famous actress said to The Times.
\Molly Ringwald attends the American Ballet Theatre Fall Gala at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on October 24, 2023 in New York City. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for American Ballet Theatre
Parenting is a journey with many ups and downs, and Ringwald was forthcoming about the most challenging aspects she has faced over the years.
“The hardest thing about motherhood was realizing that my time was not my own,” she said. (RELATED: Dakota Fanning Says She’d Choose Having Kids Over Her Career If Forced To Pick: ‘Probably More Important To Me’)
“As an actress, I’ve traveled a lot and learnt to live with instability, but that’s not great for kids,” Ringwald admitted. “That’s something I am always looking to improve on and luckily I have a husband who is a planner and is very stable.”