Molly Ringwald is reflecting on her work with filmmaker John Hughes in "Sixteen Candles."
On Tuesday's episode of Monica Lewinsky's "Reclaiming" podcast, the actress said she now finds it "a little peculiar" that her headshot was the inspiration behind Hughes writing the 1984 coming-of-age teen comedy about a high school girl's romantic pursuits.
Hughes, the filmmaker behind such hits as "The Breakfast Club," "Weird Science," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," the "National Lampoon's Vacation" film series and more, wrote and directed "Sixteen Candles," which starred Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall.
Molly Ringwald and son make stylish NYFW debut at Lingua Franca Fall/Winter 2025Ringwald said Hughes chose her headshot to place in view while he wrote the film.
"Over Fourth of July weekend, he put that up on his bulletin board above his computer station… and he wrote this movie," she said. "When it came time to cast it and they said, 'Who do you want?' he said, 'The girl that I wrote this about.'"
Ringwald, then 15, ended up starring as Sam Baker in the film, which followed the drama around the pursuit of her high school crush on her birthday.
Lewinsky asked if Ringwald knew she was Hughes' "muse" at the time.
"I mean, he did tell me the story when we first met," the "Breakfast Club" star said. "When you're that age, I mean, I had nothing really to compare it to."
"It didn't seem that strange to me. I mean now it does," she added.
Asked to clarify those comments, Ringwald said, "Yeah, it's peculiar. It's complimentary -- I mean it always felt incredibly complimentary. But yeah, looking back on it, there is something a little peculiar."
Lewinsky noted that she was aware Hughes had been "such an important person" in Ringwald's life.
'The Brat Pack' premieres at Tribeca Film FestivalRingwald responded, "It's definitely complex, and it's something that I turn over in my head a lot and and try to figure out how that all affected me, and I feel like I'm still processing all of that, and I probably will until the day I die."
Hughes went on to write, direct or produce some of the biggest films of the 1980s and '90s, including the hit Christmas comedy "Home Alone" and its sequels. He died of a heart attack in 2009.
Ringwald starred in Hughes' projects through the 1980's including "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink."
Recently she's had roles in television projects including "Riverdale" and "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans."
