Actor Andrew McCarthy struck by New Orleans pride

by Mike Scott, Movie writer, The Times-Picayune

Actor Andrew McCarthy is in New Orleans working on the comedy 'Snatched.'

Actor Andrew McCarthy had never visited New Orleans before coming to town this month for the locally shot National Lampoon comedy "Snatched." When he did, however -- on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- the New York resident found a familiar vibe.

"There's an extra amount of local pride," he said between takes at the New Orleans Botanical Garden. "It's amazing, it really is. I don't know what it was like before, but it seems like (Katrina) has really galvanized the city. ... It's active here, there's an active pride: 'This is our place,' you know what I mean? You really feel it.

"You felt that in New York after Sept. 11, a real pride, like, 'This is where I'm from. They can't keep us down.' You feel that similar sort of thing here.

"I'm glad to be here for that reason -- besides the fact that the town's just really cool."

Patti Perret / Film Flam Films
A film crew for the comedy 'Snatched' shoots a scene between actors Andrew McCarthy, second from right, and Sam Stone at City Park's Storyland last week.

McCarthy, who rose to prominence in the mid-1980s with roles in such films as "Pretty in Pink" and "St. Elmo's Fire," said he's been spending most of his time in New Orleans checking out the French Quarter and local restaurants, with side trips with his son to the Audubon Insectarium ("It's very buggy. He loved it.") and the New Orleans Saints preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Snatched" is being produced by the local Flim Flam Films and reunites McCarthy with his "Weekend at Bernie's" costar Jonathan Silverman. It tells the story of a man struggling to restore his life -- and his anatomy -- after a hospital mishap.