The Brat Packer’s new is book, “Who Needs Fiends,” is about male friendship.

Andrew McCarthy reveals the inspiration for his characters in Weekend at Bernie’s and *St. Elmo’s Fire *

The Brat Packer's new is book, "Who Needs Fiends," is about male friendship.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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March 24, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

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Andrew McCarthy stars in 'Weekend at Bernie's'. Credit:

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Andrew McCarthy's outlandish 1989 movie *Weekend at Bernie*'s was based in at least some reality.

As McCarthy reveals in his new book, *Who Needs Friends*, a buddy named Eddie inspired the character of Larry Wilson, who spends *Weekend at Bernie*'s trying to pass his boss' corpse off as a living, breathing human.

"I met Eddie in high school. He was my English teacher for a semester during the fall of my senior year," writes McCarthy. "Having graduated from Columbia University just the year before, Eddie was seven years older than me — and a world more worldly. While other teachers at school wore penny loafers and button-down shirts, Eddie cruised around in retro 1950s suits and skinny ties. He rode a motorcycle and lived in Greenwich Village — an exotic and distant planet from my nearby New Jersey suburb. I admired him hugely, but mostly from a distance."

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The future Brat Packer eventually found himself emulating Eddie.

"Soon I was dressing in the same baggy clothes procured from the secondhand shops along 8th Street, going to the revival house movie theaters that would become my obsession, and walking around with folded up newspapers in my back pocket," McCarthy notes.

The *Pretty in Pink* actor went on to use Eddie's real-life style in his work.

"I would later adopt this look for my role in the movie *St. Elmo's Fire*," McCarthy says, "and base my portrayal of my character in *Weekend at Bernie*’s on Eddie — if Eddie had been a complete idiot."

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The slapstick comedy from 1989 features McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman as two corporate types who show up to their boss' beach house, only to find him dead. For their own purposes, thet decide to pretend Bernie is still alive through a series of ridiculous set-ups, a premise that screenwriter Robert Klane managed to stretch into 1993's *Weekend at Bernie's II*.

McCarthy's *St. Elmo's Fire* character, the brooding writer Kevin Dolenz, doesn't have much in common with Larry — but, yep, he does wear baggy clothes.

Andrew McCarthy at the 29th Annual Webby Awards in NYC.

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

At the height of his '80s stardom, McCarthy also starred in movies such as *Class*, *Less Than Zero*, and *Mannequin*. While he has continued acting over the years — with roles on TV's *Lipstick Jungle*, *The Resident*, and *Good Girls*** — **he has also directed episodes of *Orange is the New Black *and *Gossip* *Girl *and the 2024 Brat Pack documentary *Brat*.

His memoir of the same name was released in 2021, followed by *Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain *in 2023. *Who Needs Friends, *in which McCarthy examines the idea of male friendship, is available now.**

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