Andrew McCarthy says his latest book, Who Needs Friends, took him on a 10,000-mile road trip across America and back into the lives of people he had lost touch with. The journey runs from Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta to the Rockies and the Chihuahuan Desert, and he says its purpose was simple: reconnect with friends from his past.
The project arrives this spring with McCarthy, bestselling author and actor known for Pretty in Pink and Less Than Zero, writing about male friendship and loneliness at a moment when both can feel harder to come by. That is the weight of the book: it is not just a travel memoir, but a search for connection across a country and across a life.
McCarthy has spent years moving between acting and writing, but he describes the road book as driven by a single goal. He said he wanted to see old friends again and understand what remains after time, distance and adult life have done their work. That gives Who Needs Friends a personal frame that goes beyond geography.
The book also sits beside a version of McCarthy that is less about the screen and more about routine. He said saying no has gotten easier over the years. He also keeps close to habits that sound small until he explains how much they matter: “Also, sleep, sleep, sleep is key.” “A snack can save the day.” He always has almond butter in his travel bag.
There is the same mix of discipline and ease in the way he talks about grooming. “I use Bumble and bumble shampoos,” he said, adding that his daughter has long told him his best quality is his hair. He has used Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser for years, and says it feels clean and simple. The profile may be tied to beauty and self-care, but it stays linked to the larger project behind it: a book built on movement, memory and the effort to stay connected.
That same need for movement runs through his day. McCarthy said, “I have to move my body every day.” If he does not, he said, “my brain implodes.” When his mind starts “going like a hamster on a wheel,” he spins. He walks miles every day, does a fair amount of yoga and says, “It’s the best thing for creativity and processing.” Even the smallest habit has a place in the system. “I have to brush my teeth first thing in the morning,” he said. That may be the clearest answer to the book as well: for McCarthy, connection, discipline and motion are part of the same life, and Who Needs Friends is the record of him trying to keep them together.
