1 June 2026
Andrew McCarthy has admitted alcohol “derailed his career entirely”.
Andrew McCarthy battled alcoholism
The Pretty In Pink actor – who was part of the 1980s Hollywood Brat Pack alongside the like sof Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald and Demi Moore – has been sober since 1992 but admitted it took “years” to fully recover and he struggled to get his working life back on track for a long time afterwards.
Speaking to Ted Danson on his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, he said: “”Those kind of movies, that was early on. I was just starting to drink in those movies, but I certainly think it derailed my career entirely. … Because not only the drinking, but then the years it took to recover from the drinking.
“I was so clouded for years after and by then, that moment had passed, and I had no wherewithal what to do with that moment anyway. Had I not been drinking, not been a part of my life, I don’t know that I had the wherewithal to sort of position myself [with] what’s next and all that anyway.”
The 63-year-old star insisted fame didn’t spark his alcoholism and he believes he would have “drunk anyway” regardless of his circumstances at the time.
He said: “People always go, ‘Oh, well, you were too young, successful. That was too much for you, so you drank.’
“I’m like, ‘No, I would have drunk anyway. I was just able to afford better vodka.’ “
Andrew thanked Ted for his surprising and unknown role in helping him get sober, explaining how the people he was in rehab with bonded by watching his sitcom Cheers.
He said: “I owe you a great, great debt, which you don’t know.
“In 1992, I was in an alcohol rehab in Minnesota, and I was all played out.
“I was 29 years old, and I was just done. I made a mess of everything, and I was in this rehab. They were trying to get us all to bond as a unit. … But none of us liked each other. We were all disparate people. There was no way this was going to be a unit.
“But one of the guys then discovered that at seven o’clock at night, Cheers was on every night…
“After the counsellors all went home, we would gather around and watch Cheers. And we would sit there and count people’s drinks and talk about how you made the drinks — he’s got a heavy hand, and he doesn’t. And so, we totally bonded over the alcoholic part of Cheers.
“That changed my life, and I haven’t had a drink since. So, I owe you a great deal.”
Ted, 78, replied: “Well done.”
