Where Are They Now

Where Are They Now?: Molly Ringwald

“You know, I wouldn’t have guessed I would be here in a million years,” Molly Ringwald says as she looks up at the Lincoln Memorial. The two-term senator from Iowa has just spent the last 45 minutes reflecting on all of the twists and turns her life has taken in the past 20 years. Once the ‘it’ girl of Hollywood, she is now the co-author of a bill that would universalize Health Care.

“I do think that my days in Hollywood really helped prepare me for life in D.C. It’s the same rough and tumble mentality here that lots of people had out there in the 80’s. And there are tons of actors here too… Charlton Heston... I see Al Franken every once in a while.”

But life hasn’t always been so glamorous for Ringwald. After the critically panned cheerleader-turned-drug-addict drama Junkie On the Pyramid was released straight to video in 1992, Ringwald knew that it was time to make a career move.

“Sure, I could have stayed in Hollywood, playing sweet girl-next-door types for years to come. But at the end of the day, you have to look at yourself in the mirror, and at that point I just couldn’t do it. I just…. I couldn’t do it.”

Asked if she still keeps up with any of her old cast mates, she looks down to the Memorial steps.

“I really wish I kept up with them better. I know that Emilio is doing good, still working on the screen play for the new Mighty Ducks film. Last I heard from Judd, he was taking night classes at the community college. Anthony called the other day and was trying to get everyone together at some point to eat and hang out, but we’re all just so busy now. I would love to see the whole crew, but I know that all of us just have so much going on.”

At this she says she needs to go, so I quickly ask if she ever thinks about getting into acting again in the future.

“Oh, well, I’m not sure. Maybe if the right part came along. Maybe like a story about a business woman who can barely balance work and her son, but is swept off her feet by her son’s after school karate instructor. Something with a lot of depth and heart like that. I just refuse to be type-cast, in Hollywood, D.C., or anywhere else.”