from a lowe life

highlights

quotes from rob lowe

with mcgarrybowen

mcgarrybowen | rob lowe

on being a jack of

all trades Lowe sees his life as a series of chapters: teen idol, Hollywood

ingénue, TV lead, movie star, and bestselling author. “I

try to do things that interest me, that are challenging

and different… Making choices that are surprising and

different is critical to keeping your brand alive.”

As important as it is to challenge yourself, though, Lowe believes

it is important to stay on-brand. “Don’t be like a comedian

who stops being funny because they want to win an Oscar.”

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mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 2on

the west wing Lowe told Bowen that Aaron Sorkin actually wrote The West Wing

two years before it was made; ever prudent, the networks sat on the

script until the Clinton / Lewinsky scandal had passed. Lowe credits

the mix of humour, drama and scope with the show’s success.

Earlier this week, Downton Abbey executive producer Rebecca

Eaton mentioned that showrunner Julian Fellowes was inspired

by the interdependent character dynamics of The West Wing.

This delighted Lowe, who is “obsessed” with the period drama.

mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 3on

competition Lowe recalled the arduous, unconventional audition

process that led to him bagging the breakout role of

Sodapop Curtis in The Outsiders. Francis Ford Coppola

auditioned the young actors together, flouting all rules

for working with minors to pit them against each other

in a series of increasingly intense acting exercises.

“At heart, I’m very competitive,” he says. “I think you

need to have a competitive heart to get ahead.”

mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 4on screwing up... and bringing

it back Never get cocky, Lowe advises. He got overconfident while

starring in a play, and accidentally skipped five pages of

plot-filled dialogue ahead. While the other actors on stage

tried to figure out what the hell was going on, Lowe walked

right up to the audience, took a lengthy pause, and then

improvised his way back to the right scene, covering all of

the necessary plot points in the process. Even Aaron Sorkin,

who was in the audience at the time, didn’t notice.

“If you own a moment,” he says, “no one’s gonna question you.”

mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 4on

authenticity “The only thing worse than being inauthentic is being

faux authentic,” says Lowe, who has turned down scripts

if the dialogue felt overly mannered or unrealistic. This

is the main reason for the candour in his books.

“For the love of all things holy, just write what’s real!” He

shouts. “It has to be real, and not aping a cadence, style

or convention that the industry has created… When it’s

original, you know it, and the audience know it.”