Andrew McCarthy, 63, Reveals How He Defines ‘Success’ as He Tries Something He’s ‘Never Done’ in New Thriller (Exclusive)

Decades into his acting career, Andrew McCarthy is still finding ways to challenge himself.

McCarthy, 63, is starring in the new sci-fi thriller Orion, hitting theaters nationwide on Friday, Oct. 2. Written by Anne Vithayathil and directed by Jaco Bouwer, the film follows NASA Interrogator Jim (McCarthy) as he’s tasked with getting amnesiac astronaut Apollo (Drew Van Acker) to remember the events leading up to the deaths of his fellow crew members before they crash landed on Earth.

Although Debby Ryan also appears in the film, it primarily involves an intense, interrogative discussion between McCarthy and Acker’s respective characters. All the while, the audience is left to watch this back-and-forth interaction where they’re left questioning who is actually telling the truth.

“I do think watching [the film], [you go], ‘Wait, which one of these guys is the good guy and the bad guy?'” McCarthy, 63, tells Parade. “I mean, I always knew what I was, but I thought he was certainly manipulative and playing both sides of the coin at various times trying to meet certain things in his agenda. So, it was just really fun to mess around with that kind of manipulation.”

However, McCarthy admits that “this was tricky” to pull off, “because it was just largely a two-handed” effort with Acker, 40.

“It was just the two of us, so much of it, and the scenes were really long, and so we would just take long giant swipes at it. And so, it was just important to keep remembering where I was in the process,” the Weekend at Bernie’s star explains. “‘Oh, am I manipulating now?’ ‘Am I telling him the truth now?’ … There are lots of examples of I’m behaving in a certain way and it’s left in that way.”

At this point in his career, McCarthy jokingly notes his one rule for the roles he now chooses: “I try and keep my clothes on at this point. That’s really about it. That’s really the criteria.”

“This one was fun just because I’d never done kind of a two-hander like this where it was just back and forth so much,” he shares. “I did love the sense of secrecy and what’s the truth and who’s telling the truth? Am I telling the truth and why aren’t I or why am I? Why am I now choosing to tell the truth? And things like that.”

“Movies are often pretty direct, and here the motivations were all very convoluted, much more like life. I thought that was really a fun thing to mess around with,” he adds.

McCarthy’s acting resume includes prominent roles in beloved ’80s classics like Pretty and Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire. Outside of that, he’s been delving into directing, lending his talents to episodes of popular shows like Gossip Girl and Orange Is the New Black to directing the buzzy 2024 Brats documentary. He’s also built a career as a writer, from penning several books to becoming an an award-winning travel writer and editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler.

But at this point in his career, McCarthy says, “I don’t really look at success.”

“I want something to be successful enough so that I get another opportunity to do so. That’s really all I’m interested in,” he continues. “If somebody actually lets me go do it again, did that book sell enough so I can write another book without too much of a hassle? Great. Then, it’s successful, but that’s not really what I’m interested in, particularly.”

“I like going to work. I like doing different things, and so that’s a very satisfying feeling,” he concludes. “Success in and of itself is a pretty transient hollow thing. It’s nice when something pops or has a moment, you go, ‘Great, great!’ But there’s not much there. It’s a bit like a flame that rises up and it can be really attractive and fun for a moment, but there’s nothing to sustain you in that.”

Orion is now in theaters nationwide.