Molly Ringwald's Three Kids Are Growing Up Fast

Molly Ringwald's stunning transformation from '80s teen star to a certified figure in Hollywood has been well-documented. Whether it be her memorable role as part of the cast of "The Breakfast Club" or her lengthy stint in "Riverdale," Ringwald has kept herself within the public eye for the best of reasons for over three decades. Through all this, however, was her personal want for motherhood. Embarking on this journey well into her 30s, Ringwald got to see this family dream come to life.

Alongside Ringwald's husband, Panio Gianopoulos, the two share three beautiful children: Mathilda Ereni, Adele Georgiana, and Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos. Although the spotlight is reserved for her personal acting feats, ranging from ongoing television series like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" to shorts like "Catherine & Michael," Ringwald did her best to shine a light on her children and their respective personalities. 

Of course, as with any celebrity who has children, these were particularly far and few. This isn't to say that Mathilda, Adele, and Roman are completely shielded from the public eye, as they've been able to step out to conquer modeling debuts, on-screen obligations, ballet shows, and so much more. All in all, their growth from toddlers to full-blown adults has been a sight to see.

Born on October 22, 2003, Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos was the first child of Molly Ringwald and Panio Gianopoulos. Aside from conceiving Mathilda unironically in the dressing room of the Studio 54 theater, Molly's late start to motherhood was one she was seemingly new to navigating. Even with this new journey ahead, Ringwald was firm on her stance on maintaining normalcy for Mathilda during her childhood. With Ringwald venturing into the acting industry at an early age, she made sure that Mathilda was as disconnected from that world as much as she could be. 

This was made apparent in 2010, when Ringwald spoke to Mother Jones about her new life as a mother. One of her household rules was not to have a television in the house. While this would've caused outrage for most children, Ringwald noted that Mathilda not having television at an early age helped her not make technology her only source of entertainment. "The first few years Mathilda was alive, we didn't have a TV, and then we finally broke down and got one. But not having had a television for that early time, she is not interested by television at all," she said. "She just doesn't like to sit down and watch TV; she's much more interested in other stuff, which I'm kind of pleased about." 

On July 10, 2009 — almost six years after the birth of her firstborn, Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos — Molly Ringwald and her husband, Panio Gianopoulos, introduced their twins, Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos, into their family. It proved to be a momentous occasion not only for her late journey into motherhood but for the hardships that came with it. After giving birth to Mathilda, Ringwald underwent surgery to remove fibroids, which, according to her interview with People in 2009, "made it easier to get pregnant again." 

Luckily, Ringwald went on to successfully get pregnant with twins. However, the harsh side effects she had during her pregnancy with them were seemingly a sign of things to come when she had to  give birth. In an interview with People, Ringwald unveiled that she opted against having a C-section for her twins. After being in labor for 11 hours, Adele finally arrived unscathed. Roman, on the other hand, was in breech position, which presented some difficulties with his delivery. Though he came just three minutes after his sister, Ringwald noted that doctors had to give Roman some extra attention due to how he was set. "It was such an extraordinary birth. The doctor grabbed him by the foot and pulled him out," she recalled. "Adele had hogged a lot of the oxygen in the blood, so right away, Roman needed a little more attention. But both babies cried almost immediately."

Although Molly Ringwald was reluctant about Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos entering the acting industry, this didn't stop her from allowing her to take advantage of other opportunities. One of which was her early indoctrination into the world of modeling, which was likely a potential career Ringwald saw coming for Mathilda. In an interview with Babble (via People), Ringwald noted Mathilda's strong opinions about what she likes and wants to wear. "My daughter is very headstrong, especially with style and how she wants to do things," she said. "At one point, she almost reduced me to tears because she wouldn't wear these expensive patent leather boots I bought her."

Fast forward to 2017, Mathilda got the opportunity to make her modeling debut for J. Crew, which, according to her interview with WWD, was all thanks to creative director Jenna Lyons. "Jenna offered it to me and I was really excited," Mathilda said. "I'm interested in modeling and I want to act as well." Luckily, Mathilda wouldn't make her modeling debut alone. While modeling J. Crew's spring collection, Mathilda was joined by Julianne Moore's daughter, Liv Freundlich, who was also making her modeling debut. With both expressing interest in modeling in the future, both Moore and Ringwald were in attendance, watching their children sport camouflage jackets alongside tousled skirts for their first major modeling gig. 

Seeing as how Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos grew up disconnected from Hollywood, it wouldn't be wrong to assume Molly Ringwald had some strict rules as a mom. From her fictional counterparts to her own personal experiences as a child in the spotlight, Ringwald understands the complexities of being a young person, thus encouraging her to instill certain habits into her kids early on. Despite this, Mathilda has since described Ringwald as a relaxed and easy-going parent. From Ringwald's perspective, this came shortly after she introduced Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos into the mix.

During Ringwald's appearance on "Rachael Ray" in 2019, the "The Breakfast Club" actor described her trajectory into motherhood and what she learned as a mom of three. While Ray asked about Adele and Roman — who were 9 at the time — Ringwald stated they were relatively well-behaved kids. According to Ringwald, this was partly due to her learning her shortcomings with her firstborn, Mathilda. "So far, 9 seems to be pretty great. They're really happy," she said. "You know, I think it's always the same thing when you have more than one kid, you make a lot of mistakes with the first one, you learn a lot of stuff." This, however, doesn't mean she's completely lawless, as she noted to Ray she still wanted Adele and Roman to traverse their childhood without social media. To her credit, she deemed this to be beneficial during their younger years.

Molly Ringwald's impact through coming-of-age projects single-handedly made her the poster girl for all things related to being a teenager. This made it all the more peculiar once she became a mother, as she would now be leading her children through these years behind the big screen. For Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos, growing up proved to be a seamless process. As with all teenagers, however, there comes a time when they feel the need to push the boundaries of what's allowed.

This came in the form of a "Project X" style 16th birthday party, which Ringwald was all too thrilled to share during her appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in 2024. With Ringwald away at a literary event with her husband, Panio Gianopoulos, Ringwald knew Mathilda had plans of holding an event at their house, but didn't know just how huge the party would be. "She told us that the party was starting at, I think, 8 or 9 o'clock, and actually it started at 5, and by the time we got there, it was like 200 people at our house, I'm not kidding," she recalled. Though Ringwald tried to be the cool mom and allow the party to continue after she came back, Mathilda's birthday bash eventually got shut down by the police. "You would've thought that I would've been prepared for that, right?" she quipped.

Having supported her eldest child's pursuit in the modeling industry, Molly Ringwald was also there to cheer on her twins when they dabbled in modeling in 2020. In January of that year, Ringwald took to Instagram to upload a photo of Adele Georgiana Gianopoulos modeling for Gap Kids for their upcoming spring collection. 

"Adele and a little cutie-pie modeling Gap Kids Spring!" the actor wrote. A month later, Ringwald shared another image from Adele's photoshoot with Gap. This time, she was alongside her twin brother, Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos. In the ad, both sported youthful caps, with Roman pairing it with a blue-and-white tie-dye, long-sleeve shirt and light blue jeans, and Adele wearing a navy blue Gap sweatshirt with bright blue, bleached jeans. "Roman & Adele dreaming in denim," Ringwald wrote in the caption, and this wouldn't be the end of their denim promotionals for Gap. 

In March, Ringwald posted Roman's solo shoots, sporting the same outfit as he did alongside his sister. Lastly, in April, she shared another photo of both Adele and Roman for the cover of Gap's "The Little Denim Lookbook." The two wore more cuts of denim along with bucket hats, differing from their last look together. 

With Molly Ringwald firmly establishing her children's disconnected relationship with social media during their childhood, Mathilda Ereni, Adele Georgiana, and Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos generally led very private lives. The glimpses we do get to see of them are usually followed by a special occasion, such as their birthday or modeling gigs. That isn't completely the case for Adele, however, as Ringwald made it a point to share her daughter's interest in ballet with her fans quite often.

In October 2020, Ringwald uploaded a video to Instagram, showing her daughter in ballet attire practicing moves against a wall, with the caption, "My little ballerina." She'd do the same in December, sharing a picture of Adele showing off her prowess as a ballerina. Adele's interest in the art is apparent; in 2021, Ringwald brought her daughter to the American Ballet Theatre's Fall Gala in New York, sporting coordinated shimmering pink gowns on the red carpet for their night out. 

From the birth of Mathilda Ereni, Adele Georgiana, and Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos, it's clear that Molly Ringwald wanted to raise strong, self-sufficient children. From her choice to shorten their screen time to prioritize a fulfilling childhood, it slowly became apparent just how positive this choice of life was for her dynamic trio. Aside from the few glimpses we got to see of them on social media, Ringwald informed the public of the lasting effects of this during her interview with Yahoo Life in 2022.

While reminiscing about her three-decades-long career, Ringwald spoke about her earlier days as a "determined" child when it came to who she was, what she believed in, and what she wanted to do in her life. Ironically enough, Ringwald noted this was also the case for her children. 

"I sort of feel like people kind of come out of the womb, you know, who they are, and I just came out of the womb as a very determined individual," she said. "And I could also say the same for my kids. I have these three kids, and they're all so completely different, but the one thing that they have in common is that they're all incredibly determined and opinionated, and I love that. It makes every day really interesting."

The 1985 release of "The Breakfast Club" was met with critical acclaim for its new-age depiction of coming-of-age films. There are a lot of things about "The Breakfast Club" that we notice now as adults, but back then, we probably wouldn't have given it much attention. This is an aspect of the film that Molly Ringwald has since acknowledged, which is why she's hesitant to show the film to her children — Adele Georgiana Gianopoulos, in particular. 

The first instance of sharing any concern about her kids' perception of the cult-classic was in 2018, when she wrote a New Yorker op-ed suggesting she had shown it to Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos. "When my daughter proposed watching 'The Breakfast Club' together, I had hesitated, not knowing how she would react: if she would understand the film or if she would even like it," she wrote. "I worried that she would find aspects of it troubling, but I hadn't anticipated that it would ultimately be most troubling to me."

From the film's insensitive nature toward the LGBTQ+ community to dated gender-specific stereotypes, it's unclear if Adele had an opportunity to watch the film in its entirety. According to Ringwald's interview with The Guardian in 2023, however, she assumed the film wouldn't go over well with Adele, as she has strong views about the world that the film will likely go against. "She's very liberal," she said. "I mean, I'm very liberal, but she's another level. Which she should be, I'm glad."

For Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos, growing up disconnected from the world of Hollywood wasn't enough to steer her away from the industry altogether. Her interest in acting was felt throughout her modeling debut, when she expressed interest in appearing on the big screen. Although Molly Ringwald told The Times in 2024 that she was reluctant to allow her daughter to act at a young age, Mathilda's persistence to build an acting career her own way was enough for Ringwald to give in. Mathilda even opted for her father's surname, Gianopoulos, to stray away from any special treatment as Ringwald's daughter.

Luckily, in 2024, Mathilda got to make her acting debut in "The Idea of You" starring Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway. In it, she played Georgia, Izzy's best friend. Mathilda's excitement for the role was felt during her Hollywood Insider interview, as she spoke about how "collaborative" the experience on set was. Her positive attitude toward her first major acting gig was not only a sign of her growing passion for the industry but also a byproduct of the advice her mother shared with her. When the news broke of her inclusion in "The Idea of You" in 2023, both Mathilda and Ringwald shared insight into this venture with People. When asked about the advice she received from Ringwald for her budding career, Mathilda iterated that her mother taught her "everything," from learning to be patient and treating others with respect. Given her early interest in acting and her commitment to her mother's advice and values, it's no wonder Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos has grown up to be Molly Ringwald's twin.

Based on Molly Ringwald's Instagram, it's clear she thinks the world of her children and their respective aspirations. With Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos being the most private of the three, it's rare to see much of his hobbies take the spotlight on Ringwald's social media. The only exception is his modeling gigs, which Ringwald made evident in 2020 with his photoshoot for Gap Kids. Fast forward to 2025, and you'll find that Ringwald isn't afraid to showcase Roman's natural talent for modeling, whether it be him "mogging" his entire family in vacation pictures or a photoshoot of him sporting golf apparel. 

Roman's aspiring career as a model took form in February that year, as he made his runway debut alongside his mother for New York Fashion Week. As part of Lingua Franca's Fall Ready-to-Wear fashion show at The Bowery Hotel — and as close friends with the brand's co-founder, Rachelle Hruska — the two were decked out in seamlessly casual pieces. While Ringwald sported a white-striped red silk dress with an olive multi-colored cardigan, Roman modeled a gray zip-up hoodie over a black T-shirt and suede shorts. Though his first fashion outing was primarily in loungewear, it proved to be a successful introduction into the world of fashion for Roman.