Molly Ringwald is still pretty in pink and the former teen queen and now author shares her life's lessons in a new tell-all interview.
The Advocate chatted with the 80's icon and happily married mother of three about Prop 8, playing lesbian, being kicked off The Facts of Life -probably Tootie and Natalie's fault-and her love for the gays.
The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles star is still glowing at age 42 and was very adamant about the break-up of the infamous brat pack a la John Hughes era, "People always assume that everyone who was in the 'Brat Pack' still gets together and has picnics every Sunday - like there's still this club with a secret handshake," she says.
Ringwald's candid new lifestyle guide, Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family and Finding the Perfect Lipstick is available April 27 and her show The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns for a third season in June.
The Advocate: Have you always been conscious of your gay fan base?
Molly Ringwald: Since most my friends are gay, it would be hard not to be aware of it now, but I don't think I realized it early on in my career because I don't know that I definitely had that fan base until later. I became pretty aware of it in the '90s, after some time had passed, and especially when I was living in New York and doing a lot of theater.
Tell me about the humorous "Vote No on Prop. 8" video that you and your husband filmed in 2008.
My friend Matt knew somebody that was doing it and wanted me to be a part of it, so of course I said I would. It was important to me to do because it seems absolutely crazy that people who love each other can't marry. It's unfair the way the whole Prop. 8 thing went down - the act of voting no on something instead of yes was confusing, and it felt like a train wreck from the very beginning. Right now it's frustrating, but years from now it's going to seem crazy, like, "Oh, my God, we had slavery? We thought it was OK to enslave people?" Matt and Greg, the godparents of my children, have a relationship and a marriage that most people could only aspire to have.
Have you ever played a lesbian character?
No, I never have! I would be totally open to it. People have sent me scripts with lesbian parts, but I've turned them down - not because I didn't want to play a lesbian but because it wasn't well written. I'm totally into it.
You were a regular on the first season of The Facts of Life. What do you remember about that infamous 1979 pilot episode, in which Blair insinuates that her tomboy classmate, Cindy, is a lesbian?
I remember nothing about that. Wow. Now that you say that, it sort of rings a bell, but I did not remember that at all.
Were you too young to understand the gay implications?
I knew what being gay was before I did Facts of Life because I did the West Coast production of Annie, which opened in San Francisco, and all the dressers were gay. I remember my mom talking to me about it. I was actually in San Francisco right when all that stuff was going on with Harvey Milk. I remember my mom talking to me about the Twinkie defense, and she told me the whole story of the murders, how it was a travesty, and how it never should've happened. We had conversations about what it meant to be gay, so I knew about that when I did Facts of Life, but for some reason I don't remember that episode.
Read the full interview here.
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