Andrew McCarthy's 3 Children: All About the Actor’s Sons Sam and Rowan and Daughter Willow (2025)

Andrew McCarthy likes to be versatile in both his professional life, as an actor, director and award-winning travel writer, and in his personal life as a dad to three kids.

The "Brat Pack" actor welcomed his elder son, Sam, with his ex-wife Carol Schneider in 2002. McCarthy later grew his family with the addition of daughter Willow in 2006 and son Rowan around 2014, with his second wife Dolores Rice.

In a 2013 blog post, McCarthy wrote about how much he loves his kids.

“Like most parents, I believe my children to be more dynamic, more charming, funnier, smarter, more perceptive and sensitive, more athletic, and more beautiful than other people’s children,” he penned. “I love my children. At this moment they still adore us. It’s a lovely time of life.”

With McCarthy first shooting to fame as a member of the "Brat Pack" in the 1980s, he was in the public eye long before his kids were born. During an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark in May 2023, McCarthy spoke about why he kept his celebrity status from his children and the first time they found out about his stardom.

When he finally told Sam, who was 9 at the time, about his career, his elder son proceeded to tell McCarthy how proud he was.

“I realized in that instant I did everything wrong as a parent by keeping such a big part of my life separate from my kids," he said.

Here's everything to know about Andrew McCarthy's children: Sam, Willow and Rowan.

Sam McCarthy, 23

McCarthy and his first wife, Carol Schneider, welcomed their son, Sam, on March 15, 2002.

Following in his father’s footsteps, he is also an actor. Sam’s elementary school had mandatory plays when he was growing up, and he also often visited the film and TV sets of his dad's projects. All of these experiences piqued his interest in acting.

“As I got older, I felt like I was drawn to acting, and would talk about being an actor ‘someday.' ” he told Flaunt.

Sam got his big break in 2019 when he started starring as Christina Applegate’s son, Charlie, in the Netflix comedy-drama series Dead to Me. Since then, he has had notable roles in Goosebumps and Condor.

When he's not pursuing his acting career, Sam spends time with his dad. When McCarthy's elder son was 19, the duo embarked on an epic trek, walking the 500 miles of the Spanish trail, Camino de Santiago.

During the 32-day hike, Sam’s relationship with his dad grew stronger as the pair spoke about all kinds of topics including drugs, alcohol, sex, love and heartbreak. Before the trip, Sam had gone through his first rough breakup.

"There's a great deal of trust on my end towards him because I spent a lot of the time the first few weeks just talking about absolute nonsense that was bothering me," Sam told PEOPLE in May 2023. "He had the patience and the grace and the love to just listen to it."

That month, McCarthy published Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain, a memoir that details the trek the father and son took together. The journey also didn't stop there: Sam read all of his own dialogue for the audiobook.

Willow McCarthy, 18

McCarthy and his wife, Dolores Rice, welcomed their daughter, Willow, on July 24, 2006.

Like her dad and older brother, Willow is also an actor, but as of now, she prefers the stage. In 2013, she played Matilda Wormwood in the Broadway production of Matilda: The Musical. She also had roles in the Broadway shows 1984 and The Ferryman.

Ten years after performing as Matilda, Willow performed in a special “Matildapalooza” event at New York City’s 54 Below alongside other Matilda actors to sing their favorite Broadway songs.

Although McCarthy is typically more private about his children's lives, Willow joined him in July 2024 for a funny video on social media.

McCarthy shared an Instagram Reel of himself and Willow doing the viral “Apple Dance” to Charli XCX’s song by the same name.

Now, Willow splits her time between New York City and Dublin, Ireland.

Rowan McCarthy, 11

McCarthy and Rice welcomed their second child, son Rowan, around 2014.

McCarthy has opted to keep Rowan out of the spotlight for the most part, except for a few mentions on social media.

In January 2023, his sister Willow shared photos from a family trip to Bash Bish Falls State Park in Massachusetts. In one of the pictures, she carried Rowan on her back.

A few months later, weeks before the release, McCarthy posted an Instagram photo of Rowan reading his book, Walking with Sam.

"My youngest, Rowan, picked up my new book and read a few pages," he captioned the joking post. “He closed it and concluded, 'It would have been better if it was about me.' "