Andrew McCarthy one-on-one about his new documentary 'Brats' on Hulu

NEW YORK -- It was an era of cinema that defined a generation, movies like "Pretty in Pink," "16 Candles," and "The Breakfast Club."

As for the circle of young Hollywood stars behind them, you know them as "The Brat Pack."

"If you were coming of age in the 1980s, 'The Brat Pack' was at the center of your cultural awareness," said Andrew McCarthy, actor.

Here's what you may not know:

"For those of us experiencing it from the inside, The Brat Pack was something very different. On June 10, 1985, New York Magazine published Hollywood's Brat Pack. I just remember seeing that cover going oh bleep. I never talked to anyone about what that was like," McCarthy said in a clip from the "Brats" documentary.

Nearly 40 years after that article, McCarthy is out with a documentary exploring the cultural phenomenon of that time. It's called, "Brats."

Joelle Garguillo: It is such a pleasure, I'm going to try to contain myself and not geek out too much. But congratulations on this.

Andrew McCarthy: Thanks, very much.

Garguilo: What was life like before that article came out just in the sense of like being part of this group to usher in a whole new phase in Hollywood?

McCarthy: It's hard to imagine now, but movies didn't always used to be about young people and youth culture. And that was the moment when everything kind of changed and Hollywood studios realized, wait, kids go to the movies 5, 6, 7 times, grownups go once, good... let's make movies for kids. And overnight almost every movie started to be about and for young people, starring young people. And we were there right at the start. And so it was this extraordinary and wondrous kind of time.

And then the article, it's impact was explored in "Brats."

Garguilo: Why now?

McCarthy: I, you know, as we get old, we start to sort of view our past differently. We hated the term, we hated it. You know, that's also hard to realize now, because it's become such an iconic affectionate sort of beloved term, that it wasn't always that way.

Garguilo: Just to be clear, at the time, it was not changing your life for the better.

McCarthy: Oh, it was scathing at the time. It was that time, and you know, New York journalism grill, snarky kind of journalists and it was really, negative pejorative article, he really was scathing about all of us.

After that, everybody wanted to be in "The Brat Pack," except "The Brat Pack."

Garguilo: What was life like, before that article? And what was life like after that article?

McCarthy: That's what the movie's about, is going from, wait, there was this thing that we hated. And now all these many centuries later, it's become this sort of, for me, personally, it's become probably the greatest professional blessing of my life, you know, and I didn't always think of it that way, in what ways because people of a certain generation will come up to me almost daily on the street and go, oh, my God, that 'Brat Pack,' oh, those movies. And they'll start talking and their eyes will start to glaze over. And I realized they're not even talking to me anymore. They're talking to their own youth, and I am the mirror or the avatar of their youth. And so they're talking about that moment in time when of coming of age, when it's a thrilling wondrous time in life, when your whole worlds a blank slate to be written on. And I represent that to a certain generation.

Garguilo: Can you just describe the energy of getting back together?

McCarthy: When we saw each other again, for the first time in all these years. It's like, we're from the same litter. We just looked each other on oh my God, it's you, you know. So I saw Ali, and I instantly had a crush on her again. It was all very kind of sweet.

Garguilo: I want you all to do more together. Now.

McCarthy: That's what we're just all talking about. Okay, we're going do some, we're going to do something because there's a there's an audience for it.

Garguilo: Clearly, there's an audience for it.

McCarthy: I think there's an appetite for it for us too. I mean, we were all, we were, I think everyone was surprised how much like, wow, yeah, this is meaningful on a personal level. It was quite meaningful.

Garguilo: Can I ask you about 'Pretty in Pink' anything that the public doesn't know about your time?

McCarthy: I mean, the most iconic story of the project the public doesn't know is, we changed the ending entirely.

Garguilo: What is one thing you want everybody to know about 'The Brat Pack?'

McCarthy: We love it, too.

"Brats" is now streaming on Hulu, which is owned by the same parent company as this station.