The Brat Pack & Beyond

If you’re a fan approaching ‘80s movie icon Andrew McCarthy, chances are, he knows why right off the bat.

“As they’re coming up to me, I can tell, ‘Oh that’s a “Pretty in Pink” person or ‘that’s a “Weekend at Bernie’s” guy,” McCarthy says with a laugh. “Truck drivers love ‘Bernie’s.’ Women of a certain age love ‘Pretty in Pink.’ People who look like they’ve maybe had a hard time in life like ‘Less Than Zero.’ And ‘Mannequin.’ There’s a certain kind of crowd that comes up to me about ‘Mannequin.’” 

Don’t forget about “St. Elmo’s Fire,” the 1985 classic that also starred Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson and other members of the young, controversial group of stars known at the time as “The Brat Pack.” McCarthy, now 58, is chronicling both his onscreen and offscreen experiences as a member of the legendary set of actors in his just-released memoir, “Brat: An ‘80s Story.” 

“People always asked me if I was interested in writing a Brat Pack book and my answer — before they even finished the sentence — was no,” McCarthy admits. “But it was such a seminal, formative moment in my life. I had never looked at it, I had always run from it. You know, I’ve been dragging it around for a long time and I thought it would be nice to stop avoiding it. It seemed finally, I suppose, I was ready to. It took forever but, you know, it takes what it takes. And I thought it would be good to do it before I got too old to remember anything.”

Before delving into stardom at the height of the Brat Pack era, McCarthy writes about breaking into the industry as an unknown actor from New York.

“I talk about all my movies,” he explains. “Different things from different movies, the process of each one — how I got my first job, the process of the open call. Going through ten auditions and then suddenly I’m in a movie with Jacqueline Bisset. Being flown out to be approved by her at her house.” The movie McCarthy is referring to is the 1983 romance “Class.”

His most memorable role of the era was undoubtedly “Pretty in Pink,” released in 1986. He credits co-star (and fellow Brat Packer) Molly Ringwald with helping him nab the part of Blane, the wealthy, sensitive preppy teen who falls for Ringwald’s character, Andie, a shy girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

“At the audition, I read with Molly and as I left she turned to [director] John Hughes and said, ‘That’s the guy.’ And John was like, ‘Really? That wimp?’ It was supposed to be like a star quarterback, a square-jawed, broad-shouldered kind of hunk. But John, he gave people great credit. He took Molly’s belief and got behind it.”

Fans of the cult favorite will be tickled to learn that he and Ringwald still talk. “I run into her fairly often, not infrequently, because she lives in New York. We’re in touch and email back and forth.”

He still collaborates with another “Pretty in Pink” co-star, James Spader, regularly directing episodes of Spader’s NBC series “The Blacklist.” “I’ve directed like 20 of those shows,” says McCarthy. “Directing Jimmy, we have a great shorthand. I can just look at him — either give him a look or a raised eyebrow — and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I get it.’ I’ve known him for so long. He’s a really fine actor and it’s just a pleasure, really. It’s quite fun. We were laughing about something and someone said, ‘What were you guys like back in the day?’ And Jimmy said, ‘We were exactly the same, only more so.’ Whatever that means, it’s exactly right,” McCarthy says.

McCarthy has also directed other hit TV dramas in recent years including “Good Girls,” “Condor,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Sinner” and “Orange is the New Black.” “I was always very ambivalent about the desire for success in acting and yet an equal desire to just disappear and not be out there,” he explains of the appeal of working behind the scenes. “When I started directing 15 years ago, I found I was able to do all this kind of work that I loved to do without feeling exposed in that way. And I learned quickly I had an aptitude for it and enjoyed doing it. So when I got into that I found it was a good fit for me temperamentally and for what I knew how to do.” 

He still steps in front of the camera from time to time — with an onscreen role in “Good Girls” and, in a clever wink of casting, playing the father of a teen on the modern-day, coming of age series “13 Reasons Why.”

“It was really interesting going back to acting after not having done it for so long,” he says. “It’s something I’ve known in my bones since I was such a young person. To put in down and pick it back up again, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.” 

Since 2004, he's also flourished as a travel writer, writing acclaimed personal essays based on his journeys for publications including National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Bon Appetit and The New York Times. He was named 2010’s Travel Journalist of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers and his 2012 travel memoir “The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down” was a New York Times best-seller. “Travel changed my life, it’s a really powerful thing and I just began writing about it,” he says. “I had never written anything, but I suddenly felt like I had something to say, so I pursued it. It was a real rebirth for me. I consider them all the same things: the acting and the directing and the travel writing. I just feel like me when I do them.” 

McCarthy lives with his wife and children in New York but with COVID-19 restrictions lifting, he’s optimistic about traveling again soon. “Hopefully in the second half of the year we can all just get back out there. My wife is from Ireland so I’m sure we’ll go over there for a bit. I’ve been directing and working since October so it’s nice to be back.” The pandemic, he says, “has sort of helped me go one day at a time. I just try to be a little patient with myself and with others. I think, ‘let’s just get to the other side of this.’”

He’s also excited about the release of the new book, out May 11, leading to the inevitable question: can fans expect any sort of Brat Pack reunion?

According to McCarthy, you never know. “Most of them, I haven’t seen in ages. But writing the book made me realize what sort of affection I had for everyone. It’s funny, The Brat Pack became such a thing [at the time] but there were very few of us it affected, that were part of it. We’re the only ones who know what it was like, the only members of that club. It’s kind of made me want to see everyone again.”