Revisited: The Power of Saying "Screw It" with Rob Lowe

Simon Sinek (0:00)

So you decide to do a socket dance for the opening of the Oscars?

Rob Lowe (0:04)

Can't dance, really.

Simon Sinek (0:05)

Okay, okay.

Rob Lowe (0:07)

I mean, I didn't get footloose for a reason.

Simon Sinek (0:09)

For a reason, right. And it doesn't go well is what you're saying?

Rob Lowe (0:12)

Doesn't go well. Doesn't go well.

There was an open letter to the Academy the next day, signed by like Paul Newman and Gregory Peck, and like this was an affront to our sensibility. How dare you? I mean, I looked, I looked out in the audience and I saw it was the night Barry Levinson won 10 Academy Awards for Rain Man.

Simon Sinek (0:37)

Yeah.

Rob Lowe (0:37)

And I literally saw him mouth, What the fuck? Didn't go well.

Simon Sinek (0:47)

To borrow a line from Heidi Klum, in Hollywood, one day you're in and the next you're out. But not for Rob Lowe. He has been a fixture since the 1980s and has had decades worth of iconic roles, from St. Elmo's Fire to The Outsiders, to The West Wing to Parks and Rec. In an industry that chews him up and spits him out, how has Rob Lowe stayed relevant for so long? It's not just his good looks. And yes, he is very good looking. It's something else. The real secret to Rob's longevity is something more powerful. As he puts it, he's got a serious case of the fuck-its. He likes taking risks, knowing full well that they don't always work out. But the thrill of doing something new is exactly the thing that has helped him find opportunities where others don't. In addition to the movies and TV shows, he's also the host of the podcast Literally with Rob Lowe and is host of The Floor, which airs its fourth season on September 24th on Fox. This is A Bit of Optimism.

How old were you when you got famous?

Young, very young.

Rob Lowe (2:06)

The first time, because then it came and then went.

Simon Sinek (2:09)

Oh, really?

Rob Lowe (2:11)

Yeah. Because I got famous as a teen idol.

Simon Sinek (2:13)

Right.

Rob Lowe (2:14)

And then it didn't work. And what was the thing that put you on the map? It was a sitcom called A New Kind of Family. And I was 15

And so, you know, you're like the...

Simon Sinek (2:27)

You were on the cover of Teen Beat?

Rob Lowe (2:29)

Yeah, all that stuff. Bop. Teen Beat. Is there something about, like, maybe just because I'm just a fucking old pervert. There's something about...

Simon Sinek (2:39)

Oh, wait.

Rob Lowe (2:40)

I just put it together.

Simon Sinek (2:42)

And Bop. I never... Wait, I just put that together. In this moment, the minute you said pervert, immediately I understood...

Rob Lowe (2:48)

Teen Beat?

Simon Sinek (2:48)

I had never made that association.

Rob Lowe (2:51)

Teen Beat? You've just... Are they kidding with that?

Simon Sinek (2:55)

Bop? But you were on the cover. That's worse.

Rob Lowe (2:57)

T-Bop.

Simon Sinek (2:58)

No, no, I get it. But you were on the cover. That's the worst part.

Rob Lowe (3:01)

Oh, yeah.

Simon Sinek (3:03)

You were the Teen Beat.

Rob Lowe (3:04)

I was a cover boy at 15 Yeah.

And then had an early midlife crisis at 16 and 17 Didn't work because they hired only 18-year-olds to play younger because of the child labor laws and how long you could work on a set. And I just didn't work for two and a half years. And I thought my career was over. And then I got The Outsiders. And that was a whole other level of fame.

Simon Sinek (3:28)

That's movie. That's movie.

Rob Lowe (3:30)

And that started it.

Simon Sinek (3:30)

Yeah. Because you, there's a, I have a friend, you're relatively grounded.

Rob Lowe (3:39)

I mean. I'll go with relatively.

Relatively. Yes. Relatively.

Simon Sinek (3:45)

Because I have a friend who has a theory that when people achieve fame, any kind of growth that they have ceases. Oh, I have that theory. It's true. Yeah. And so like child actors are screwed because they stop growing and they think, they think everybody says yes to you is normal.

Rob Lowe (4:02)

Yes. Whenever I, that's 100% true. Unless you do a ton of work on yourself, you're frozen in amber.

Simon Sinek (4:11)

Right. The minute you get famous.

Rob Lowe (4:13)

Yes, that's true. Absolutely true.

Simon Sinek (4:15)

So when people achieve adult fame, they're a little more grounded because they know where they came from. Hopefully.