Forty years later, Andrew McCarthy still hears about the ending.

Pretty in Pink—the John Hughes-scripted, Howard Deutch-directed Brat Pack classic—turns 40 this year, and McCarthy sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the film, the infamous ending controversy, and why he's made peace with being called "that wimp."

For those who need a refresher: Pretty in Pink originally ended with Molly Ringwald's working-class Andie choosing Jon Cryer's nerdy, devoted Duckie over McCarthy's rich, preppy Blane. Test audiences hated it. "They wanted her to end up with me," McCarthy recalled, "which I found baffling, because Blane was kind of a wimp."

The ending was reshot. Andie and Blane got together. Duckie got a consolation dance with a random girl at prom. And for the past four decades, film nerds have been arguing about whether the studio ruined a perfect movie or saved it from disaster.

McCarthy is team original ending. "Duckie was the right choice," he insisted. "He was the one who actually cared about her. Blane was just trying to figure out if he could date someone from the wrong side of the tracks without his friends giving him crap about it. That's not romantic, that's cowardice."

He's not wrong. Watching Pretty in Pink now, it's striking how much of the film is about class anxiety and social performance—themes that feel even more relevant in 2026 than they did in 1986. Blane isn't a villain, but he's not exactly a hero either. He's a rich kid who wants to do the right thing but lacks the spine to stand up to his peers. Andie deserves better.

But test audiences didn't care about thematic coherence. They wanted the fantasy: the poor girl gets the rich boy, love conquers all, class doesn't matter. And Paramount gave it to them, because box office beats art every time.

McCarthy also addressed the "wimp" label that has followed him since the film's release. "People still yell that at me on the street," he said, laughing. "'That wimp?!' Like it's 1986 and I just showed up to prom in a beige blazer."

The line comes from Duckie, who is incredulous that Andie would choose Blane over him. It's one of the film's most quotable moments, and it encapsulates the entire debate: Is Blane a romantic lead or just a pretty face with no backbone?

McCarthy seems at peace with the ambiguity. "I've played a lot of characters over the years," he said, "but Blane is the one people remember. I'm okay with that. Even if he was kind of a wimp."

The 40th anniversary has sparked renewed interest in the Brat Pack era, with retrospectives, podcasts, and think pieces dissecting the films' cultural impact. McCarthy recently directed a documentary, Brats, exploring his complicated relationship with the label and the movies that defined a generation.

Pretty in Pink remains a fascinating artifact—a teen romance that's simultaneously progressive and regressive, a film that understands class dynamics but chickens out at the last minute. It's also, despite everything, genuinely good. Ringwald is luminous. Cryer is hilarious. And yes, McCarthy is convincing as a guy who wants to do the right thing but doesn't quite know how.

Would the original ending have been better? Probably. Would the film have been a hit without the reshoot? Who knows. But forty years later, the debate itself is part of the film's legacy. We're still arguing about whether Andie made the right choice, which means John Hughes tapped into something real.

In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that the wrong ending can haunt you for forty years.