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Season 3 Parental Guidance with Molly Ringwald of The Secret Life of an American Teenager
by Troy Rogers
 After
growing up in such hugely popular and success
films as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club,
and Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald went on to
carve out her own unique career in Hollywood as
she stepped into adulthood. In fact, since the
1980s, Molly Ringwald has never stopped working,
with roles in Betsy's Wedding and Stephen King's
The Stand in the '90s.
But it wasn't until Ringwald took on the lead role in the emotionally gripping Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story, about AIDS activist Alison Gertz, that Molly began to gain recognition as a more mature actress beyond her "Brat Pack" image. Although Molly made a huge splash on the silver screen in the '80s, her first role was that of the feisty redhead schoolgirl, Molly, on The Facts of Life.
Almost 30 years later Ringwald returned to TV to take on the role of Anne Juergens, mother of the pregnant Amy Jeurgens (Shailene Woodley) in the hit ABC Family Series, The Secret Life of An American Teenager, which makes its third season premiere on June 22 at 8pm.
Leading up to the season three debut of The Secret Life of An American Teenager, we hopped on the phone for a quick conference call chat with Molly Ringwald to learn more about the secret life of motherhood and how teens are different from her Pretty in Pink days of the '80s.
THE DEADBOLT: How does being a mother in real life help you to get into the character of Anne?
 MOLLY
RINGWALD: Well, I think that once you're
a mother, you understand; not to say that people
who aren't mothers can't play mothers. I think
I played mothers before. I was actually a mother
in my real life, but I think once you experience
that, there are just certain things that you
just know. There are certain things that you
feel comfortable with, a way of touching your
child's head or a way of like wiping dirt off
their face. There's just a way that you have,
I think, that you don't quite - It's not in
your bones, I think, until you actually are
a mother.
It's obviously a little bit different for me because I'm playing the mother of a teenager and in real life. I'm the mother of a five-year-old, so it's a little bit different. It's kind of like looking into a crystal ball into the future. But I think once you're a mother, you kind of always see your kids as a baby anyway no matter how old they get.
THE DEADBOLT: I also remember watching you in teen films like Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club. How do you think teens are different today as compared to back in the 1980s?
RINGWALD: I don't really think that they are very different. I mean, certain things have changed. Certainly the Internet has changed things a lot and texting and cell phones and all of that, but I think the basic personality and everything that teenagers want and everything that teenagers fear is all the same. It's just the technology has changed.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Molly Ringwald on whether the popularity of The Secret
Life of an American Teenager surprised her:
 "Well,
it's always surprising when something turns
out to be such a big hit like this. I mean,
you do all these projects and you hope for the
best. You really never know what's going to
strike a chord. I just think that people just
really like the characters. I think that they
relate to the characters and I think that it's
really well cast. I think we have a lot of great
actors in the show and a lot of good charisma
and I think Brenda Hampton is really good at
writing for these characters. So, I mean I guess
that's really, in my mind, what's made it take
off."
Ringwald on what challenges her with the role of Anne
Juergens:
"Well, it's constantly interesting for me to play the mother of teenagers just because I'm not really there in my own life. I have a five-year-old and I'm pregnant with twins right now. So, it's always interesting to me to kind of-- It's like sort of jumping ahead in my life and sort of living what I'm going to be living probably like 10 to 15 years from now. So, that's always interesting. I feel almost like I'm so known for being a teenager and then all of a sudden, I'm the mother of a teenager. That's always sort of a real head trip for me.
"I think it's always challenging for me to do a show like this, that I'm used to doing movies and theater and I've never really done sort of an episodic show that moves at the fast pace that it goes. So, that's always really challenging for me."
On the type of advice she gives her young co-stars:
 "Well,
all of my co-stars on the show really are smart
and they really have their head on their shoulders.
I try not to give advice. I don't want to be
like that person... giving advice. I think that
they're all doing a great job and they're all
really down to earth and are really nice people.
So, I don't really feel like I need to give
them advice."
Molly Ringwald on whether the show accurately portrays
family life:
"I think so. I mean I think that every family
is different. I don't think that there's any
definitive way to portray a family. I think
that this is the way that this family functions,
but I think obviously it's different in other
families. But, I think that Brenda does a pretty
good job of sort of doing that family dynamic
- the sort of sibling rivalries, the little
arguments. Yes, I think it's pretty realistic."
Molly Ringwald on any negative feedback regarding the
teen pregnancy elements of the show:
"I've only heard positive stuff. I mean the show has an enormous following. So, I mean, I've only heard positive stuff. I'm sure that there are people that don't like the show or feel like it's too graphic or whatever. I'm sure that that exists too. It's not possible to have something that everybody likes, but as long as it opens a conversation and a dialogue, I think that the show is doing what it's supposed to."
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