Pretty in Pink ’s Andrew McCarthy Reveals a Hilarious Secret About the Movie’s Final Scene

Paramount/Kobail/Shutterstock Pretty in Pink

35 years since its release, Pretty in Pink remains a cult classic, though one of its stars hasn't exactly revisited it since.

"I've never sat down and watched the whole thing," Andrew McCarthy, 58, tells PEOPLE of the 1986 hit teen drama he starred in with Molly Ringwald. "I'm just not a nostalgic person in that way."

In his new memoir, Brat: An 80s Story, on stands May 11, McCarthy, shares behind the scenes stories of many of his hit films in the '80s including St. Elmo's Fire, Weekend at Bernie's and Mannequin.

The actor reveals that he almost didn't get the role of Pretty in Pink's Blane McDonough, the popular rich kid who falls for Ringwald's Andie Walsh. "The part was a high school quarterback, broad shouldered, square jawed guy and I did not fit that bill," McCarthy recalls. "I got a courtesy audition because I was in St. Elmo's Fire that was coming out and I read for it and Molly was there. When I left, she turned to [writer] John Hughes and said, 'That's the guy. He's dreamy and he's sensitive and that's who I'd fall for, not some quarterback.' Molly got me that part. And to John's credit, as soon as he committed to me, he committed to me."

McCarthy also shares that unforeseen circumstances made for a hilarious and surprise addition to the movie's final scenes.

RELATED: Pretty in Pink Star Turned Director Andrew McCarthy Revisits the '80s with Memoir Brat

Brian Harkin/Grand Central Publishing Andrew McCarthy

After Pretty in Pink initially wrapped, "I was doing a play in New York and I had a shaved head to play a Marine," he says. When the need for reshoots arose, production came up with a plan.

RELATED: 30 Things You Might Not Know About Pretty in Pink, 30 Years Later

"I think they had little faith in the movie, because they gave me a cheap wig!" reveals McCarthy, who wore the wig in the prom scene with Ringwald. "But the wig did a lot of the work for me. It made me look very forlorn and unhappy. It just sat on my head's like a bird's nest!"

But despite the unfortunate wig, and the fact that he hasn't rewatched Pretty in Pink, McCarthy, who is now also a critically acclaimed travel writer and television director, says he's eternally proud of the film- and grateful for the experience.

"I was playing a leading man for the first time," says McCarthy. "That was fun and exciting and Molly and I had a lovely chemistry. It just worked. But I continue to be shocked that here we are talking about it, all these years later!"