Molly Ringwald's 3 Children: All About Mathilda, Adele and Roman

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Molly Ringwald has three children with her husband Panio Gianopoulos

Kristina Bumphrey/Variety/Getty
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety/Getty

Life imitates art. Molly Ringwald, the queen of teen comedies, is now raising three young adults.

The Sixteen Candles star and her husband, Panio Gianopoulos, are the proud parents of daughter Mathilda, 20, and twins Adele and Roman, 14.

While going from having one child at home to three was "a bit more challenging" at first, Ringwald, who welcomed her twins at age 41, credited her husband and "careful planning" for making balancing motherhood with her career possible.

"It really helps to have a very supportive partner and a lot of flexibility," she told PEOPLE in September 2010.

Now, her children are all grown up and have unique personalities, which Ringwald has supported since they were little. "One of the hardest things parents have to accept is that they have to let their children express themselves, to love them and allow them to be different," she once shared.

Here's everything to know about Molly Ringwald's three kids.

Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos, 20

Molly Ringwald Instagram
Molly Ringwald Instagram

Ringwald and Gianopoulos welcomed their first child together, Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos, on Oct. 22, 2003.

In her book Getting the Pretty Back, Ringwald described how choosing their daughter's name became an ordeal for the couple. Gianopoulos explained that in Greek culture, it's customary to name the firstborn after the father's parents. Once Ringwald discovered she was having a girl, though, she realized that meant she was expected to name her daughter Ereni after her mother-in-law, a realization she balked at.

Ultimately, they came to a compromise, using Ereni as the middle name instead.

Even at a young age, Mathilda had a mind of her own. "My daughter is very headstrong," Ringwald said of her eldest in 2010, adding "especially with style and how she wants to do things."

Bryan Bedder/Getty
Bryan Bedder/Getty

That love of fashion has blossomed into an interest in modeling. In 2017, Mathilda made her modeling debut with a campaign for J. Crew. She was also part of Andrew Warren's New York Fashion Week show in 2020.

Despite the fact that her mom is a famous actress, Mathilda grew up without a TV for several years and was not interested in following in her mom's footsteps at first.

"For years we didn't have a television. The first few years Mathilda was alive, we didn't have a TV, and then we finally broke down and got one," Ringwald told Mother Jones in April 2010.

Mathilda eventually caught the acting bug and earned her first major film role in the upcoming adaption of the book The Idea of You, per Deadline. The movie stars Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine.

Of course, Ringwald has shared some industry-related advice with her daughter. She instructed Mathilda to "be prepared to wait and be nice" and to "remember people's names" on set.

Adele Georgiana Gianopoulos, 14

Molly Ringwald Instagram
Molly Ringwald Instagram

In January 2009, Ringwald announced that she was expecting fraternal twins. At the time, the actress was 40 years old.

Since she was carrying twins, most doctors wanted to schedule a cesarean section, but Ringwald was determined to have a natural birth. She agreed to be induced nearly a month early. On July 10, 2009, she gave birth to twins Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos.

Because of her age, Ringwald was unsure about whether or not she would be able to have more kids, telling PEOPLE, "After Mathilda was born, I had some things fixed (surgery to remove fibroids) that made it easier to get pregnant again."

"To have the opportunity to have another girl — it is a dream come true," she said of having a second daughter. She later shared that she'd chosen to name her Adele after her mother.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

While the former "Brat Pack" member has introduced her elder daughter Mathilda to some of her iconic '80s movies including The Breakfast Club, Adele has yet to watch them.

During an interview with SiriusXM's Radio Andy, Ringwald shared that she finds some elements of those movies "troubling" in today's modern context, and she is not sure if she will share them with her twins.

"Adele is the most woke individual that you've ever met," she said of her younger daughter, adding, "I just don't know how I'm gonna go through that, you know, watching it with her."

In October 2021, the mother-daughter duo drew on her '80s movie Pretty in Pink for inspiration when they hit the red carpet together in pink ensembles at the American Ballet Theatre's Fall Gala in New York City.

Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos, 14

Molly Ringwald Instagram
Molly Ringwald Instagram

Roman Stylianos Gianopoulos was born July 10, 2009, three minutes after his fraternal sister Adele.

Ringwald was in labor for 11 hours. Roman was also breech, making the delivery more difficult. "The doctor grabbed him by the foot and pulled him out," Ringwald told PEOPLE. "Adele had hogged a lot of the oxygen in the blood so right away Roman needed a little more attention."

Still, she noted that her pregnancy experience was an "extraordinary" one, saying, "I was so, so lucky to be 41 and to be so healthy during this pregnancy."

For Ringwald, her twins are her miracles. "Having a son as well as another daughter, it was just a really grand surprise," she told PEOPLE shortly after their birth. "Miracles? You could say that."

Dia Dipasupil/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty
Dia Dipasupil/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty

Like his twin sister and mom, Roman's favorite color also appears to be pink. On Instagram in July 2020, Ringwald shared a snapshot of Roman wearing a pink T-shirt with a cheeky caption that read, "Of course my son's favorite color is pink!"

In December 2022, Roman joined his parents and twin sister Adele at the premiere of Apple TV's Christmas movie Spirited starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. He opted for a casual look on the red carpet, donning a red Levi's hoodie and glasses.

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