McCarthy also co-wrote the film Up (2009) with Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

He also wrote Million Dollar Arm (2014), and directed and executive-produced for the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017).

McCarthy spent several years doing stand-up comedy and theater in Minneapolis and Chicago before going into television and film.

[9] He starred in Flags of Our Fathers as James Bradley, and in the final season of The Wire as the morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton.

[15] In 2010, McCarthy directed the unaired pilot for the HBO series Game of Thrones, but the final cut of the episode was poorly received by showrunners David Benioff and D. B.