Andrew McCarthy Confronts the Writer Who First Called Them the ‘Brat Pack’

The Brat Pack was a group of the hottest, coolest young actors of the 1980s, a group who often worked together in many of the decade’s biggest films. They included Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Robe Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Jon Cryer, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, and Anthony Michael Hall, give or take some other actors who floated in and out of their orbit. Now, Andrew McCarthy is exploring the group and both their impetus and influence in his documentary Brats, which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is streaming on Hulu. He spoke with MovieWeb about how the Brat Pack signaled a major change in Hollywood:

“Those who were at the forefront, they didn’t create that change, but they were the results of that change, which was when Hollywood discovered that young people go to the movies five, six, seven times and grown-ups go once.
So, the hell with the grown-ups. Let’s make movies for kids
. That was the moment when that change started, and we were the people at the forefront of that. And then [New York Magazine writer] David Blum comes along, put the catchy phrase on it, and boom!”

In that aforementioned New York Magazine article, Blum first defined the group of actors this way: “It is to the 1980s what the Rat Pack was to the 1960s — a roving band of famous young stars on the prowl for parties, women, and a good time. And just like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr., these guys work together, too — they’ve carried their friendships over from life into the movies. They make major movies with big directors and get fat contracts and limousines. They have top agents and protective P.R. people. They have legions of fans who write them letters, buy them drinks, follow them home. And, most important, they sell movie tickets.”

Related Andrew McCarthy Says Friends ‘Is Exactly St. Elmo’s Fire’ but ‘In a Coffee Shop’

Andrew McCarthy directs the new Brat Pack documentary Brats, and explained how the era paved the way for Friends and other titles.

Andrew McCarthy Meets David Blum: “I Would Have Said ‘I Hate This Guy’ X Amount of Years Ago”

BRATS (2024)

An intimate documentary that explores the 1980s films starring the ‘Brat Pack’ and their profound impact on the young stars’ lives.

Release Date June 13, 2024

Runtime 1h 32m

Distributor(s) Hulu

Expand

There is a powerful meet-up in Brats. It’s the moment Andrew McCarthy finally meets the New York Magazine writer face to face, roughly four decades after Blum coined the moniker which many Brat Pack members truly disliked. “I found that I had such a feeling of affection for him that really surprised me,” McCarthy explained about that meeting. “Again, it’s re-looking into our past in a certain way. I would have said, ‘I hate this guy,’ X amount of years ago. And now I look at him and I go, ‘Wow. You’re like the fifth Beatle, dude. You’re in this with us.’”

So, did Andrew McCarthy still think Blum did the actors a disservice or a ‘hatchet job?’ “Of course he did,” McCarthy said. “And he did it to further his own [career]… hopefully he’d get a better next job out of it, you know. And we were used for that purpose.” McCarthy added:

In a certain way, you can understand that. You go, ’It’s not personal.’ He was just trying to further his own career. And he thought this was a good way to do it. And it turned out it was.

“David was interesting, because on the one hand, he couldn’t say,’ Yeah, I get it. It wasn’t cool,’” McCarthy noted. “And on the other hand, no, so he was still kind of playing. I think he’s got us all on Google Alerts or something, because he knows more about all of our careers than any of us do. He knows what we’ve been doing for those 30 odd years. I think he feels invested in a certain way.” He added:

“I just knew…
I didn’t want to do to him what he did to us.
You know, I didn’t want to treat him unfairly. I wanted to let him present his point of view and talk for himself about what his experience of it was, how it came to be. I’m much more interested in the experience of it now than the experience of something 30 years ago.”

You can see how it all plays out, along with interviews with McCarthy’s co-Brat Packers, in the new documentary Brats, which hits Hulu on June 13. Watch the trailer below:

You can view the original article HERE.