MOLLY RINGWALD / ACTOR

John Hughes’ ‘80s high school princess Molly Ringwald has seen her name become cultural shorthand for a certain kind of innocence and adolescent angst. Now, “Scream” and “Dawson’s Creek” writer Kevin Williamson has cast Ringwald, 31 and newly wed to French writer Valery Lameignere,] as a faculty member in “Teaching Mrs. Tingle,” with ‘90s princess Katie Holmes as a student.

ICONOGRAPHY: “It’s kind of weird that people use my name that way. It’s flattering and sort of funny, and I don’t really think about it a lot. When someone tells me, ‘Oh, I saw “Dawson’s Creek” last night and they talked about you,’ it’s funny.”

TEACHING MS. HOLMES: “I think most of the young actresses today have seen ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Sixteen Candles’ and ‘Pretty in Pink’ and been influenced by them. Katie has told me she has been, and also Claire Danes.”

PASSING THE CANDLE: “I think most of all I have an affinity with Claire Danes. When I saw ‘My So Called Life,’ I recognized a lot of me in her--not that she’s not original. She and Katie and all of them are very original. But I certainly influenced them in some way, just as Diane Keaton and Isabelle Adjani and others influenced me.”

ALL GROWN UP: “The part in ‘Mrs. Tingle’ is sort of winking at my film career. That’s one of the attractions Kevin had. I’m not self-conscious about not being a teenager anymore. I’m thrilled to be an adult. I’m happy every Monday that I don’t have to go to school.”

IT’S A SCREAM: “Kevin still seems kind of surprised with his success. I guess he was an actor before and wasn’t having success, and his writing career took off. He’s very nice, very relaxed and comfortable to work with.”

DOWN UNDER: “I just did a really interesting movie called ‘Cut,’ sort of the Australian ‘Scream.’ The producer is Bill Bennett, who did ‘Kiss or Kill,’ which won the Australian Oscar. And Kimble Rendall, who was in the rock band Hoodoo Gurus, directed--his first feature.”

ANTIPODEAN: “I’ve always wanted to work in Australia and have been interested in Australian cinema. It was really fun. It’s like they haven’t lost their enthusiasm yet. Everyone knows each other, and it doesn’t have that big-business feeling.”

NEXT UP: “I’m starting a movie called ‘In the Weeds’ in New York. It’s an independent that is sort of backstage at a restaurant [and] takes place all in one room. Last time I did that was ‘The Breakfast Club.’ ”