Molly Ringwald shared a rare snap of her 16-year-old son, Roman, ahead of a special night out for the tall teen on Tuesday. The Breakfast Club star took to Instagram to post a photo of Roman getting ready for his junior formal alongside his date, who wore a rose gold gown that many eagled-eyes fans pointed out could be a reference to Molly’s famous 1986 film Pretty in Pink. In the pictures, Roman sported a brown suit jacket and gray tie over a white collared shirt, as his date wore a metallic rose gold dress with stacked silver necklaces and bangles to complete the look.
“Junior Formel [sic]!!” Molly wrote in the caption, as fans rushed to the comment section to point out the similarities to her famous films, including Pretty in Pink, which saw her character, Andie, attend prom in a now-iconic pink dress with a halter neck and white polka dots.
“Rose gold dress she’s wearing makes me think it’s a slight nod to Pretty in Pink!!” said one fan, while another added: “Looks like Andrew McCarthy from the side,” referring to Andie’s love interest. “Awwww she has her own Jake Ryan,” referring to Molly’s character’s love interest in another of her famous films, Sixteen Candles.
“They’re adorable,” said another fan, while a fourth chimed in: “You must be so proud,” and sixth declared: “This is so cute Molly!!” The redheaded beauty shares her children, Mathilda, 22, and twins Roman and Adele, 16, with her husband, Panio Gianopoulos. While Roman prefers life out of the spotlight, he did walk the runway with his mom at the Lingua Franca Fall 2025 show during New York Fashion Week in February, in a sweet mother-son moment.
Molly donned a red-and-white striped silk dress with buttons down the front for the event, underneath an oversized green cardigan with floral detailing. Roman looked laid back in a black tee with “The Bowery Hotel” printed in red on the chest. He added a gray hooded jacket over the top and brown patterned shorts with long beige socks and black loafers to complete the look.
© InstagramMolly shared a snap of Roman getting ready for his junior formal
The mother of three was one of the biggest stars of the ’80s, yet revealed that being a teen idol had afforded her no advantage when it came to motherhood. “I thought I would’ve had a little bit more edge or info or intel or something. But I feel like I’m very often just as confused and perplexed as anyone else,” she told the Huffington Post.
© InstagramMany fans believed that his date’s dress paid homage to Pretty in Pink
“I think it’s a lot harder to be a teenager today. I feel like all of the insecurities, the highs and lows, the way that teenagers feel is the same. But there are so many other aspects that aggravate their lives. We didn’t have 24/7 Instagram and other social media. I think that makes things very hard.”
Molly wore the iconic pink prom dress in Pretty in Pink
She added: “It makes it harder to focus, so they miss out on a lot of great things. I was really into films when I was young, and I could sit down and watch a long, slow-paced film. But I think kids are sort of losing their ability to do that now.” Despite growing up in the age of social media, she shared that her children were “doing great”, and that her eldest daughter, Mathilda, was an avid reader with “amazing taste” in books.
