Question: In "Sixteen Candles," what does Molly Ringwald's character, Samantha, let Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) borrow at the school dance?Answer: Her undies.
Question: Claire, her character in "The Breakfast Club," packs the perfect lunch for her day of detention. What does she bring?
Answer: Sushi.
Question: Is the actress poised for a comeback?
Answer: It seems so.
Ringwald can currently be seen in "Teaching Mrs. Tingle," the latest offering from writer and director Kevin Williamson, creator of TV's "Dawson's Creek" and the hit "Scream" films.
The comedic thriller -- about a good student who teaches a cruel teacher a lesson -- stars "Creek" resident Katie Holmes.
Williams' choice of Holmes invites comparisons to the working relationship John Hughes shared with Ringwald during the '80s.
Ringwald reigned as Hughes' teen queen that decade. In the aforementioned movies, and in 1986's "Pretty in Pink," she embodied teen angst long before it became hip to do so.
A slew of mediocre film and TV projects followed her '80s blockbusters. Fed up with Hollywood, she packed her bags and headed to Paris to appear in a French film.
The temporary move turned into a four-year stay. While there, Ringwald learned the language, made more movies and fell in love with writer Valery Lameignere.
In 1996, she came back to the United States to star in the short-lived TV series "Townies.'
It was a late-1997 project that set her current comeback in motion. She tackled the lead in off-Broadway's "How I Learned to Drive," reprising the role for an L.A. run earlier this year. The play won a Pulitzer Prize, and critics praised her performance.
Just last month, Ringwald married Lameignere, and the couple is expecting a child. The family will call New York home, but Ringwald said time will be spent in Paris as well, when work allows.
Ringwald has several films set to hit theaters in the next year. "Hearts and Bones," with Keifer Sutherland and Darryl Hannah, will screen at the Toronto Film Festival next month. Kimberly, with Gabrielle Anwar and Sean Astin, will start on the festival circuit, too. "Cut," which she describes as "Australia's answer to 'Scream,"' arrives here next summer.
For now, she's filming "In the Weeds" with Joshua Leonard ("The Blair Witch Project") in New York and wrapping up publicity duties for "Teaching Mrs. Tingle."
"A reporter recently asked me if I was playing a student in the film," Ringwald laughed. "I wanted to ask him, 'Are you stuck in a time warp?' "
Well, it's hard not to associate Ringwald with her younger days and Hughes' movies.
The actress says if she could make a sequel to any of those films, it would be "Pretty in Pink. Definitely."
Hmm, "Prettier in Pink." How could we not wish her to come back?