Trivia

Married his college sweetheart, Carol Schneider, 20 years after they first dated; the couple has a son, Sam McCarthy.

When the ending to Pretty in Pink (1986) was reshot, all of the principal actors had to be called back. McCarthy had already lost a substantial amount of weight and had shaved his head for a new role in a New York play called "The Boys of Winter". Although he wore an auburn wig, he is noticeably thinner in the reshot scenes.

Was one of the nine original members of the 1980s "brat pack", along with Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy.

As soon as filming had finished for the movie Pretty in Pink (1986), he was signed on to play the lead in Less Than Zero (1987). As it happened, at the last moment, John Hughes (director of Pretty in Pink (1986)) decided he wanted to change the ending at the last minute (to what it currently is), but Andrew had already shaved his head for his next role. To solve this problem, Mr. Hughes had him don a wig for the last scene of Pretty in Pink (1986).

Worked alongside fellow actor James Spader in three previous films: Pretty in Pink (1986), Mannequin (1987) and Less Than Zero (1987). McCarthy would later direct Spader in multiple episodes of The Blacklist (2013).

Has a daughter, Willow (born 2006), and a son, Rowan, with partner Dolores Rice.

Started smoking during the filming of St. Elmo's Fire (1985) (his character smoked). Has since quit. He later appeared in John Parr's music video "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)".