‘Brats’: Andrew McCarthy On Why Molly Ringwald Isn’t In Brat Pack Film

Brats documentary director Andrew McCarthy is explaining why fellow Brat Pack stars Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson don’t appear in his new film.

Brats—which features new interviews with Brat Pack actors from such 1980s movie classics as The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire—began streaming on Hulu this week. The film recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

McCarthy—who rose to prominence because of his starring roles in the Brat Pack movies Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire—conducts new interviews with some of his fellow 1980s castmates for Brat.

Among the Brat Pack stars featured in the documentary are Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy, as well as fellow ‘80s actors including Jon Cryer (Pretty in Pink), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People).

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Noticeably absent from Brats, though, are new interviews with Ringwald and Nelson. Both stars appeared in The Breakfast Club, while Ringwald also starred in Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Fresh Horses and Betsy’s Wedding.

McCarthy has an explanation for why neither Ringwald nor Nelson wanted to be interviewed for Brats.

“I mean, they both are in the film in a sense that there’s a lot of clips and interviews and things,” McCarthy told Entertainment Tonight. “The Brat Pack is an ongoing relationship, you know what I mean? And some people are at different places in their lives to want to or not want to talk about it. I think that just informs it even more. I mean, that’s my takeaway from it.”

McCarthy Says Ringwald Got Him Cast in ‘Pretty in Pink’

Andrew McCarthy told Entertainment Tonight that he bears no ill will toward Molly Ringwald or Judd Nelson for declining to participate in Brats.

In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight, McCarthy noted how it was Ringwald who got him the part of her romantic co-lead in Pretty in Pink.

Ringwald plays a poor teen, Andie, in Pretty in Pink, while McCarthy plays a rich kid, Blane, who asks her out on a date. Jon Cryer stars as Andie’s friend, Ducky, who is secretly crushing on her. Pretty in Pink was directed by Howard Deutch and written by late 1980s filmmaking legend John Hughes.

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“That part was written for a square-jawed, big, hunky, you know, quarterback and Molly got me that part,” McCarthy told ET. “I auditioned and Molly said, ‘Oh, that’s who I would fall for. He’s dreamy. He’s poetic.’ And so John Hughes went, ‘Really? That wimp?’”

McCarthy also interviews writer David Blum in Brats. Blum is credited for coining the name “Brat Pack” after using it in a mid-1980s article he wrote for New York Magazine.

The Brat Pack name closely resembles the moniker used to describe the classic group of friends known as the “Rat Pack,” which consisted of showbiz legends Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop.

Brats is streaming exclusively on Hulu.

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