Molly Ringwald was an absolute icon of the 1980s. She began acting at an early age and quickly became a household name. It is no surprise, then, that when she conceived her first child, she did so at a place as iconic as Studio 54.
Studio 54 in its heyday
Studio 54 was once a disco nightclub in New York City where A-listers from all over came to party. In its early days, it was known for hosting extravagant events, as well as being a place where guests participated in rampant drug use and sexual acts. As you can imagine, the venue became extremely popular extremely quickly.
The club was a massive, glamorous space filled with flashing lights, extravagant decor, and a bumping dance floor. But Studio 54 wasn’t just about the music and the dancing; it was about the spectacle. People dressed in their most outrageous and glamorous outfits, expressing themselves in ways that were bold and uninhibited.
Her daughter was conceived in Studio 54
Ringwald said she conceived her daughter, Mathilda, at Studio 54 in 2003, but by that time, the club was well past its prime. At the time, she was playing Sally Bowles in the Broadway show Cabaret, and the production was using the place as their dressing rooms. It was there that she shared an intimate moment with Panio Gianopoulos, whom she married in 2007.
She explained how part of the reason they conceived was because she was getting worried about getting too old to have children. “I always knew I wanted to have children but it took me a while — I was 36 when she was born. At that age the biological clock is a real thing and it had kind of become deafening. All I could think about was: must have kids,” Ringwald said.
“The hardest thing about motherhood was realizing that my time was not my own. As an actress, I’ve traveled a lot and learned 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.” She also shares fraternal twins Roman and Adele with Gianopoulos.
Mathilda has a career in Hollywood
It seems Mathilda has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps by also pursuing a career in Hollywood. Alongside acting, Mathilda has also taken up modeling as well. However, compared to her mother, she got a late start.
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That was no coincidence, as Ringwald made the decision not to allow her daughter to start acting when she was a child. This was because she knew from experience what that was like, and she wanted to give her daughter the chance to be a kid. “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. I did my first professional job at ten years old and it was not easy,” Ringwald explained.