‘Pretty in Pink’ Actor Andrew McCarthy Reveals That the Brat Pack Hated That Label: We Were “the Avatars of a Generation’s Youth”

By Radhamely De Leon
Published June 5, 2023, 11:41 a.m. ET

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Pretty in Pink actor Andrew McCarthy just revealed the Brat Pack weren’t the biggest fans of their infamous moniker when it was first coined.

“When the Brat Pack, the label, came out it was a negative thing and we hated it,” McCarthy revealed during his appearance today on Sherri Shepherd‘s daytime talk show, Sherri.

“Over time, it’s become this iconically affectionate term — we’re like the avatars of a generation’s youth,” he said. “But at the time it wasn’t that. We took it as a very negative kind of thing. It’s interesting how things changed over time and how it’s become so beloved.”

Inspired by Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, the label was coined in 1985, right in the midst of their reign over Hollywood. Journalist David Blum had set out to profile Emilio Estevez for New York Magazine, but ended up branding this iconic group of actors for the rest of their lives. Though his profile mainly focused on Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Judd Nelson, the label extended to include their frequent co-stars Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.

The Brat Pack in 'St. Elmo's Fire.'

McCarthy recently reconnected with the Brat Pack for the first time in almost 30 years for his upcoming documentary on the legendary era of film they helped create. The documentary will be loosely adapted from McCarthy’s 2021 memoir Brat: An ’80s Story and will include interviews with McCarthy’s former co-stars.

“I wrote a book a couple of years ago about my time in the Brat Pack, and when I finished that I was like, ‘well what did everybody else think?’ And so I called them up and said, ‘Hey guys, do you mind if I come talk to you?'” he recalled. “And I went to everybody’s house and just sat down with a camera and talked to them about it.”

“It was amazing how much affection we still had for each other and for our own youth,” he told Shepherd.

When the documentary was first announced, the actor told Deadline, “This is a personal journey of discovery. It’s been pulling at me for years. I need to know if the other members of the Brat Pack have felt like I’ve felt or if they’ve had a different experience entirely.”

Sherri airs on weekdays at 10 a.m. ET on FOX.