Andrew McCarthy is opening up about being part of the iconic 80s group known as the Brat Pack… revealing he actually hated that term.
The group – which included actors such as McCarthy, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy – was first coined the Brat Pack in a 1985 New York magazine cover story.
Now nearly 40 years later, McCarthy, 60, wrote and directed the Hulu documentary Brats, debuting June 13, and he opened up with People about the term.
The actors who belonged to the Brat Pack starred in either St. Elmo’s Fire or The Breakfast Club, though the term – meant to be a play on the Rat Pack of the 1960s – had an adverse affect on their careers.
‘It did have personal ramifications. Were we brats? We were certainly privileged. But there wasn’t anything great about us,’ he said.
Andrew McCarthy is opening up about being part of the iconic 80s group known as the Brat Pack… revealing he actually hated that term
The group – which included actors such as McCarthy, Rob Lowe , Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore , Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy – was first coined the Brat Pack in a 1985 New York magazine cover story
McCarthy added, ‘We were just in the right place at the right time and represented that seismic change in pop culture. You’re easy prey when you’re exposed in that way.’
The rise of the Brat Pack also lead to a change in the way Hollywood approached movies, which for years were considered “adult entertainment,” and not catered towards the youth like today’s Hollywood does.
‘Suddenly Hollywood realized kids go to the movies way more than adults. We’ve been inundated with movies for young people ever since, but before that, movies were not for the young,’ McCarthy said.
‘It was The Magnificent Seven, The French Connection, The Godfather. Movies were grown up entertainment,’ he added
He added that when their careers were on the rise, it seemed to have bothered some who were more established.
‘The old guard were like, “Wait a minute, who are these young punks coming along?!” McCarthy added with a laugh.
The original 1985 article was supposed to be focused on solely Estevez, though the actor invited writer David Blum to hang out with him, Rob Lowe and Judd Nelson at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles.
Blum decided to shift the focus of the article to this young crop of actors, and coined the term Brat Pack, that has stuck to this day… which McCarthy and the rest have resented.
McCarthy added, ‘We were just in the right place at the right time and represented that seismic change in pop culture. You’re easy prey when you’re exposed in that way’
The rise of the Brat Pack also lead to a change in the way Hollywood approached movies, which for years were considered “adult entertainment,” and not catered towards the youth like today’s Hollywood does
‘Suddenly Hollywood realized kids go to the movies way more than adults. We’ve been inundated with movies for young people ever since, but before that, movies were not for the young,’ McCarthy said
‘It was one headline in one regional magazine that was on stands for a week. Over 35 years later, we’re still talking about it,’ McCarthy said
‘It was one headline in one regional magazine that was on stands for a week. Over 35 years later, we’re still talking about it,’ McCarthy said.
He added of the term, ‘We just felt unseen. It felt like I lost control of the narrative of my career. Who wants to be stigmatized and branded and labeled?’
McCarthy said the entire group felt the same way of being labeled the Brat Pack, and it caused none of them to ever work with each other again, despite their obvious camaraderie.
‘We all scattered for the hills. We didn’t want to be associated with it. It had a long shadow over everyone’s life to a degree,’ he said.
