Molly Ringwald spent her formative years as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. It came at a price.
Ringwald told comedian Marc Maron on his “WTF” podcast that she endured “harrowing” encounters with industry “predators” as a young actress.
“I never really felt like I was part of a community when I was in Hollywood, just because I was so young, really,” Ringwald said. “I wasn’t into going out to clubs. I feel like I’m more social now than I was then. I was just too young.”
However, when asked by host Marc Maron if staying out of the public eye when it came to her personal life at the time helped her, Ringwald quickly dispelled any doubts around when she experienced.
“Oh, I was taken advantage of,” Ringwald said. “You can’t be a young actress in Hollywood and not have predators around. I wasn’t raped by Harvey Weinstein, so I’m grateful for that. But I also did write an essay for The New Yorker that was all like, ‘It’s not all Harvey Weinstein. He’s not the only one.’”
The “Feud” star added that she was “definitely in questionable situations” during the Brat Pack era, but she relied on her “incredible survival instinct and a pretty big superego” to “figure out a way to protect” herself.
And now that Ringwald’s own daughter is an aspiring actress, she’s had to revisit her own career experiences once again.
“I have a 20-year-old daughter now who is going into the same profession,” Ringwald said, “even though I did everything I could to convince her to do something else. And it’s hard.”
Ringwald previously told The Guardian that she was typecast early in her career after playing the quirky high school lead in a slew of John Hughes feaures.
“I didn’t really feel like darker roles were available to me. The ones that I wanted to do, I didn’t get,” Ringwald recalled. “I was too young for certain roles. I was at this weird in-between stage.”
Ringwald shared that she was rejected from “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Working Girl,” and opted herself to turn down “Pretty Woman” as the sex-worker role felt “icky” to her.
