Part two of my Eighties Flashback encounters. Ugh! That sounds like a lame-ass VH-1 promotion. Let’s just say I had a coincidence of three major memories from the Eighties who gave the opportunity to see/meet them.
Above is Andrew McCarthy who was a consistent star in teen/young adult films from the mid to late Eighties: Class, St. Elmo’s Fire, Heaven Help Us, Less Than Zero, Mannequin, Fresh Horses and Weekend at Bernie’s. Of course I heard the usual from friends, what’s he up to since he fell off the face of the earth with Weekend at Bernie’s II. I had to disagree since his imdb.com page says he shows up in something every year, often TV. Well during the Q&A he talked about his other career, travel writer but Andrew came to a special screening of Pretty in Pink to promote his new Young-Adult he had been working on for a few years. The reason why it took so long was he had been working on it from an adult perspective, shifting to the teenager was the breakthrough.
It doesn’t stop there. He directs. You may have heard of the two programs he has directed frequently…The Blacklist and Orange is the New Black.
Back to the Q&A. He did confirm one “legend” regarding the ending to Pretty in Pink, the ending did poorly with a test audience, originally Duckie and Andie end up together (as it should’ve been!). The principle actors were called back to reshoot Andie and Blane making up and Duckie giving a grin to the camera as he meets a girl at the prom. Andrew by then was in a play, had shaved his hair back and lost some weight. Hughes slapped a wig on him and figured no one would notice in the backlit parking lot. The other cool revelation was much of Weekend at Bernie’s was ad-libbed, Jonathan Silverman, Terry Kiser and Andrew would spitball ideas to the director, many got put in, namely stapling the toupee on Bernie’s head. Finally, it was his first time in Austin and he hopes to return.
For my face time with him, I told him how he had one of the best episodes of Tales From the Crypt: “Loved to Death.” He replied, man that’s going way back.
I think I will pack his book with me for our upcoming Vegas vacation. Andrew said half of all successful YA fiction is read by adults. Obviously…Harry Potter, Hunger Games and all those horrible Mormon-vampire adventures.