Anecdotes

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

When the ending to Rose bonbon (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.

As soon as filming had finished for the movie Rose bonbon (1986), he was signed on to play the lead in Neige sur Beverly Hills (1987). As it happened, at the last moment, John Hughes (director of Rose bonbon (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 Rose bonbon (1986).

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.

Worked alongside fellow actor James Spader in three previous films: Rose bonbon (1986), Mannequin (1987) and Neige sur Beverly Hills (1987). McCarthy would later direct Spader in multiple episodes of La liste noire (2013).

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

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