Molly Ringwald gained international celebrity as a teen in the 1980s as part of director John Hughes’ group of oft-used actors known as the Brat Pack. After her massive success with films such as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club, Ringwald became typecast by the industry and found it difficult to transition into more adult roles. She left the United States for Paris for a number of years in the 1990s, where she appeared in several French films, periodically returning to Hollywood for small roles.

In the past few decades, Ringwald has found success on a number of television shows and films, but has yet to appear as a leading lady in any major titles, or garner the same level of sensation she did when she was younger. Regardless, the actress is inevitably praised for every role she takes on, and her talent remains without question. Though she will always be most recognized as the iconic red-haired teen that brought Hughes films to life, Molly Ringwald should be celebrated for her other work as well. Here are her best performances, ranked.

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9 The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008-2013)

     Disney-ABC Domestic Television

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is an ABC Family show that premiered in 2008, starring popular actress Shailene Woodley in one of her first break-out roles. The show ran for five seasons and focused on teenaged Amy Jeurgens (Woodley), who gets pregnant at 15-years-old and while just learning how to navigate high school. While ratings for the show were high, critics were not as impressed, and many worried that the way the show handled teenage pregnancy and young motherhood could send dangerous messages to its adolescent viewers.

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However, Molly Ringwald shined in the series, playing Amy’s mother, Anne Jeurgens. Not only having to contend with a divorce and a pregnant teenage daughter, but other complex family dynamics as well. In Season two, Ringwald’s real-life pregnancy with twins at age 40 was written into the show, and Amy struggled with the idea that her mother was having another baby after becoming a grandmother. Additionally, in Season four, Anne came out as a lesbian, which added another level of complications for the family to work through. Though The Secret Life of the American Teenager was polarizing, one thing everyone can agree on, is that Ringwald plays a believable suburban mom who’s just trying to do her best with the cards she was dealt.

8 For Keeps (1988)

     Tri-Star Pictures

It turns out that The Secret Life of the American Teenager is not the first time that Molly Ringwald has starred in a teenage pregnancy-based storyline. In 1988, she played the lead role in director John G. Avildsen’s film For Keeps. Ringwald plays a high school senior named Darcy who gets pregnant by her boyfriend Stan (played by Randall Batinkkoff). Throughout the film, the teens struggle with heavy decisions regarding what to do about the baby and what their futures might look like, along with difficult relationships with their own parents.

For Keeps was one of Ringwald’s first major film roles after her run in several John Hughes films as a member of the Brat Pack. The switch from charming, sophisticated suburban teen, who always seems to get what she wants, to one who must contend with more serious and realistic circumstances was jarring for audiences. Though critics had conflicting feelings towards the film in general, most agreed that Ringwald’s talent and star-power was the element that saved For Keeps from being just another cliché drama.

7 All These Small Moments (2018)

     Orion Classics

All These Small Moments is an independent film written and directed by Melissa Miller Costanzo, which follows teenager Howie Sheffield (Brendan Meyer) as he grapples with parents’ crumbling marriage in addition to his own coming-of-age anxieties. Molly Ringwald and Tony Award-nominated actor Brian d’Arcy James play Howie’s mom and dad. All These Small Moments is a deeply thoughtful character study, which allows viewers to act as voyeurs to a family dealing with the same everyday issues that most families do, but at the same time, portraying how all-consuming those problems can become. The film does a great job of approaching each character’s perspective without choosing sides. There is no right or wrong, good guy or bad guy, just what is. Ringwald shines as a woman experiencing somewhat of a mid-life crisis, and she brings a level of authenticity to the role.

Reviews of All These Small Moments were predominantly positive, despite its small scope. First-time director Costanzo, who debuted the film at the Tribeca Film Festival and received much praise for the project.

6 Riverdale (2017-Present)

     Warner Bros. Television

The hit Warner Bros. show Riverdale premiered on The CW in 2017 as an adaptation of the classic Archie comics; part high school drama, part murder mystery. The show boasts an ensemble cast of teens including KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones. The flame-haired Molly Ringwald was cast as Archie’s mother, Mary Andrews. She appeared in a handful of episodes during the first few seasons, though she was highly praised for her performance. Following the death of beloved actor Luke Perry, who played Archie’s father, Fred Andrews, during season three of the show, Ringwald was given a more prominent role on the show.

Ringwald told Refinery29 that she and Perry became good friends while filming Riverdale in Canada. She said, “He was the person — every time I flew into Vancouver I would get a text from him, ‘Are you here? Are you here yet? When are we having dinner?’ He was my touchstone there, the person I saw all the time.”

5 Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992)

     FremantleMedia

Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story is a film from director Tom McLoughlin, that is based on the life of real-life AIDS activist Alison Gertz, and premiered on the ABC network shortly before Gertz’s death in 1992. Molly Ringwald plays the titular role in the film, which depicts Gertz contracting the disease as a teenager after a one-night stand, and later becomes an advocate and public speaker. Ringwald has said that the project was her way of contributing to the cause and raising public awareness of AIDS patients.

Critics applauded Ringwald for a nuanced performance and the film as a whole for its important messaging. Something to Live For also starred Lee Grant, Perry King, Roxana Zal and Martin Landau.

4 Sixteen Candles (1984)

     Universal Pictures

Sixteen Candles was the first of several John Hughes movies that made Molly Ringwald a teenage sensation in the 1980s and established her as a member of the world-famous Brat Pack. Ringwald starred in the lead role of Sam Baker, who is devastated when her family forgets about her 16th birthday. Primarily set in a suburban Chicago high school, Sam finds herself pining after popular senior Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling). Fellow Brat Pack-er Anthony Michael Hall appeared as geeky Ted Farmer, who is infatuated with Sam.

The movie became a cult favorite along with the rest of Hughes’ films, and was praised for treating teenage plights with sincerity and respect. Sixteen Candles is the project that identified Ringwald as a leading lady, though her reputation for playing teenage princesses would prove to be a difficult typecast for her to shed over the years. The movie also starred Gedde Watanabe as an exchange student and sibling actors John and Joan Cusack as fellow high-schoolers.

3 Pretty in Pink (1986)

     Paramount Pictures

In true John Hughes fashion, Pretty in Pink starred Molly Ringwald as Andie Walsh, a suburban teenager dealing with typical high school drama and coming-of-age identity crises. As Andie prepares for her senior prom, she finds herself stuck in a love triangle between her best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer in his break-out role) and popular rich kid Blane, played by Andrew McCarthy, who would go on to star in Hughes’ film St. Elmo’s Fire.

Though some thought Sixteen Candles suffered from a predictable and overdone plot, Hughes, Ringwald, and the Brat Pack’s massive fanbase made the film an instant hit. The movie also stars James Spader as a classic bully, Annie Potts as record store owner Iona, and Harry Dean Stanton as Andie’s dad, Jack. In an unusual twist, the teen film was adapted into a novel written by H.B. Gilmour and published the same year the movie was released and features an alternate ending.

2 The Stand (1994)

     CBS Television Distribution

In 1994, a post-apocalyptic television miniseries called The Stand aired on ABC, based on the 1978 Stephen King novel of the same name. The project was originally supposed to be released as a feature film, but King wasn’t able to condense the script enough to do so. The series focuses on two groups of feuding survivors after a deadly plague (AKA a flu-like pandemic—yikes!) wipes out a majority of the world’s population. Ringwald plays a main protagonist, a young pregnant woman named Frannie Goldsmith, who makes romantic connections and fierce enemies while coping with her new desolate reality.

The Stand was widely praised by critics and became one of Stephen King’s most-acclaimed series. The show was nominated for several awards, including six Primetime Emmys, two of which it won for Outstanding Makeup and Outstanding Sound. The 1994 series also starred Gary Sinise, Corin Nemec, Jamey Sheridan, and Laura San Giacomo in prominent roles. In 2020, a remake of the original series was released on CBS starring James Marsden, Odessa Young, Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, and others.

1 The Breakfast Club (1985)

In a third John Hughes film, Molly Ringwald starred as one of five ensemble cast members of The Breakfast Club along with fellow Brat Pack members. The bottle film follows five teenagers from different social circles trapped in a Saturday detention together, and showcases the deep bonds they formed over the course of the day. Ringwald plays “princess” Claire Standish, Emilio Estevez is the “athlete”, Andrew Clark, Anthony Michael Hall appears as the “brain”, Brian Johnson, Ally Sheedy stars as “basket case”, Allison Reynolds, and finally Judd Nelson perfectly embodies the “criminal”, John Bender.

A major theme of the teen drama was the way in which teens were desperately misunderstood by adults, even as they themselves were attempting to understand themselves. The film was praised for highlighting issues of peer pressure, bullying, mental illness, socioeconomic discrepancies, parental expectations, and substance use. In the decades since The Breakfast Club was released, the film boasts a cult following and has remained relevant, often referenced in modern pop culture. The rich and beautiful “cherry” Claire Standish is arguably the most recognizable of Molly Ringwald’s roles and one of her most lauded.