Enlarge NBC One in a billionaire: Joe (Andrew Mc- Carthy) is dating designer Victory (Lindsay Price) in Lipstick Jungle.  Enlarge By Richard Drew, AP Pretty hard to forget: Andrew McCarthy, who starred in Pretty in Pink, lives the life of a regular Joe (as opposed to a billionaire Joe) in New York.

Q: How did you come to play prime-time's suave billionaire playboy?

A: I don't know. Last January, I spoke with them and thought it was a great part for me. And here we are.

Q: What of yourself do you see in Joe?

A: Not the money! He has a great sense of delight. He's like me on a great day. He's having a great day all the time. He has a great appetite for his life and enjoys people's various humanities. He has a real capacity to devour life.

Q: Are you as bold as he is? Would you ever call up a hot lady after Googling her?

A: I've never Googled anyone. There's something about his boldness that's totally disarming. He has no agenda. I don't have that kind of confidence.

Q: And of course, you have a private jet on standby, like he does.

A: I have none of those things. It's great freedom because he's outside all the rules. That would be one of the things to do when you're really rich to have your own car in New York would be a great thing. And the plane would be better.

Q: Do you feel lost on set among all that estrogen? (Lindsay Price, Brooke Shields and Kim Raver are the main characters in Lipstick Jungle.)

A: It's great. I love that, actually. I love the whole focus being on the women. I like the energy and their different takes on things. I find it an interesting cultural thing to be part of, as opposed to men. It's a nice world. There's not as much posturing. On this show, everyone fits very nicely. People get along well. The girls aren't competitive. They fit like siblings. They seem to look out for each other. And I'm Joe, off in his own side world. I'm all for it. That's how I like to live my life as well.

Q: You live pretty under the radar here in New York, right?

A: Generally, yeah. I love to go to the theater. I like to go to the Guggenheim (museum). I just like being on the street. I like walking out my door and things happening. I like the New York-ness of it. Twenty-five years, it's where I've lived.

Q: You even have touches of that "Noo Yawk" accent going.

A: I have an accent? I do not have an accent! I came to college here, that's why I came, to NYU for two years, until they kicked me out.

Q:Has Pretty in Pink, one of the most enduring teen romances ever, proven to be more of a blessing or a curse for you?

A: It just is. It just is. I'm sure it's both. It's just there. It's been good to me, that movie. That movie, for whatever reason, touched several generations of people.

Q: Have you watched it recently?

A: No. Not in 20-odd years. I don't have the Pretty in Pink channel at home. There must be one, right? I turned on the TV recently, and I walked out of the room and I heard a voice. 'I know that!' It was me, from Pretty in Pink. I watched two or three minutes of it. I thought, 'God, he's young.' And turned it off.

Q: By the way, I am still haunted by your 2000 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which you hold a woman hostage as your sex slave. Who knew you could do evil so well?

A: (Laughs) People mention that one a lot, actually. They wanted me to do that part again. Once was enough for me, though.