Why Andrew McCarthy Always Felt Left Out From ‘The Brat Pack’
The Brat Pack features some of the most prominent young actors of the 1980s. Andrew McCarthy was one of them. Yet despite being labeled as a Brat Pack member, he never felt like he was a fundamental part of the gang. The other quintessential Brat Packers include: Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, and Judd Nelson.
Yet while the majority of the stars were proud to be friends with one another, McCarthy considers himself an outcast in the group. Keep reading to find out why.
Was ‘The Brat Pack’ close in real life?
According to Rob Lowe in the biography titled You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried, all of The Brat Pack members were “the best of friends.” And because they were all just starting out in the entertainment industry at the same time, they always had each other to lean on when things got too overwhelming.
“We were growing up together,” recalls Lowe. “It was clear at that point in a lot of our careers that we were coming into a time where we were going to have a lot more opportunities than we ever had before. And it was helpful to have a peer group to share and navigate that with.”
But despite how much the Parks and Rec alum insists they’re best friends, McCarthy never felt that way about his co-stars.
Andy McCarthy felt like he didn’t belong in ‘The Brat Pack’
“I never felt any kind of great camaraderie,” he revealed in the biography. “I think I went out once or twice with the guys in LA.”
Carl Kurlander, the creator of St. Elmo’s Fire, thinks McCarthy didn’t fit in with the other members. One reason was that the majority of the Brat Pack stars were from LA. Meanwhile, he was from New Jersey, and he believed there was a divide.
“There was the feeling almost of someone starting at a new high school,” Kurlander said of McCarthy. “He absolutely felt separate.”
In fact, McCarthy felt so isolated from the group that he insists The Brat Pack didn’t even exist.
“[The Brat Pack] didn’t exist. It… did… not… exist!” he demanded during an interview with The Observer. “We never hung out–well, they may have hung out. I don’t know their phone numbers! I’ve never talked to a single one of them since we wrapped St. Elmo’s Fire! It’s all just some lazy f*cking journalist lumping it all together.”
Andrew McCarthy hasn’t even seen ‘Pretty in Pink’
McCarthy starred as Molly Ringwald’s love interest in the 1986 classic, Pretty in Pink. But despite it arguably being his most prominent role, the actor recently confessed that he has never even watched the whole film.
“I’ve never sat down and watched the whole thing,” McCarthy confesses to PEOPLE. “I’m just not a nostalgic person in that way.”
“I was playing a leading man for the first time,” the actor continues. “That was fun and exciting, and Molly and I had a lovely chemistry. It just worked. But I continue to be shocked that here we are talking about it, all these years later!”
