"Rob Lowe"
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Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, you know what? That reminds me. We don't have, we have a buy-ee, but we don't really have a hi-ee. Hi. Why don't we do a hi-ee? Should we start doing that? Should we do hi-ee? Hello. Hello. We need an opening. Hello. Maybe we should start doing that. All right, we'll do that. Because I'm like, hello, have you seen the prices? Hello. I can hear the listeners. Welcome to Smart List. Smart. Smart.

Smart. Laugh. Smart. Laugh. Oh, my. Oh, my God. Most meek laugh you can do, Will. Go ahead. Okay, Sean, meek laugh. Yeah.

- You can't just blow your nose, we're recording. - I just sneezed. - Talk about, wait, I didn't say do the most meek nose blowing you can do. - That was-- - You nailed it. - Yeah, I sneezed right before I came on. - But how about every time you have like a slight cough or sneeze, how about every time you sneeze in public, now anybody who-- - Anybody freaks out. - They look at you like, what's your problem? Why are you even out of the house?

I'm like, well, it's just... People, they look at you like you're a war criminal. You're like, what the fuck? But I guess I'm guilty of that too. I know. If somebody coughs more than once, right? If they cough twice, I'm like, I give them, I try to get eye contact with them like, are you okay? Is this something I need to worry about? Or...

I still get surprised at the people who cough and don't, especially after everything we've been through, who still, just cover your mouth. That's all I ask. Yeah, or just into the shirt. I used to think into the shirt was super gross, but you know what? It's a nice gesture. It'll leave a spot, but it's better than getting someone sick. Well, it depends on the shirt, right? And the blood content in your cough. Yeah.

I mean, what do you mean a spot? I had a friend over last night that he was like congested and I'm like, why did you come over? He's like, I'm not sick. I'm not sick. Yeah. And look, you woke up blowing your nose. I just had a sneeze. Was it at least worth it, Sean, you old war horse? What was his name? Scotty was out. Oh.

That's stupid. So dumb. We missed you all weekend, Sean. I know. Did you go Sunday? Yeah, we went Sunday. I didn't go Sunday because Granddad pulled his back. He pulled his back. Everybody was calling into question whether, everybody kept going, yeah, Jason pulled his back. No, it's not great. I was, I'm ashamed to say it is a golf injury. Oh.

I was simply leaning over to address the ball about to swing, not even swinging. And it just slid out. Yeah.

That's painful. But then Dion Phaneuf, our incredible friend, golfer, NHL star, gave me some of his CBD cream. I use that. Let's plug it right now. It's canny, right? Canny E's or canny something. Get it right because now you're putting Dion's. Canny 1200. I think it's called canny golf.

Can I? Can I 1,200? C-A-N-I. Can he not pull his back out over 50? I mean... I'm going to get the right word there, the right title, and we're going to plug it properly. Do you think that you're... I mean, do you think the fact that you were just addressing the ball, obviously you're brittle and you have no nutrients in your body, do you think that that is...

Are you worried about snapping some of your limbs at any point? Because, I mean, you have... There's literally nothing holding you together anymore. It's not true. I wish I was as thin as you think I am. Or at least as thin as I should be for the lack of food I'm eating. Sean, do you remember this? About a year ago, we were playing with Chuck Day and Mack Laney and those guys up there in the valley, and there's a guy on this other hole...

I don't know, maybe 92, 93, and he was just, God bless him, he's making his way around this guy, this old, old, old-timer, and he shuffled up to the ball and he was leaning over, and I just look over and I point, and Jason just goes, that's not me, motherfucker. And I go, yeah, it is. Ha ha ha ha!

That's you. I would have thought it was you. That's you now. Jason, you are so thin. What are you talking about? I am so not. What are you talking about? I'm 70 pounds. You're very thin. No, I just don't have any muscle mass because I'm not out there. I'm not like blasting backs and bys on Tuesdays and Thursdays, pushing weight, you fucking jarhead. Why don't you? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Lifting weight. Yeah, yeah. Moving weight. There's no science that says it's good for you as you get older. Oh, hang on a second. Hold on.

Look it up. Yeah, you're right. By the way, here's an update on the sweaters. I talked to Alex. Wait, we're moving on to sweaters? Well, remember we talked about my mom knitting sweaters for you guys. Oh, yeah. How does that have to do with pushing weight?

We're just talking about getting older, 'cause you'll hear why. And she says, "Okay, well, listen, I'm gonna--" She texts me out of the blue, as she does, just apropos of nothing, "I'm gonna need sizes and blah, blah, blah, and I'm gonna guess that Shawn is a little slighter, a little slimmer than Jason." Oh, God, no. You know, she just mixed up the names. That's all. That's all. No, that's all. And it's just that, like, Shawn looks slimmer. -Mm-hmm. -And you're right. I mean, you are-- And I will go on record saying you're very skinny and stuff, but you just--

you're never going to lose that look. You have the look. You're so right. That's the problem. I wasn't born with a beautifully angled face like you with great bone structure and a strong superhero chin. I am doughy. I am round. I am... I came out puffy. Okay? No, you didn't come...

You didn't. You both have chiseled, good-looking faces. You don't. Damn on-camera job. By the way, you want to talk about a chiseled, good-looking face? Here we go with a segue. This is the segue of all segues. That's amazing. Let me tell you something, guest. You better not look puffy after that intro. Check your lighting right now. Don't worry. He won't. I've never seen him look puffy, and I've never seen him look bad. It's impossible for him. And he is...

Just-- And he's maintained it for so long, which is really admirable. On top of which, the really most admirable thing about him is how well he's maintained a career that has spanned decades. For decades, this guy has been at the top of the list.

It is unbelievable. Willem Dafoe. We knew when we were kids. We're talking about an angular face. Again, again, we know him, so I can't... I gotta be really careful, because I just want to get a little bit out before you guys start... Before you start guessing, you don't know Robert Pattinson, and he doesn't want to know you. He's got such an angular face. I know, but he has no interest in seeing you. But this guy, Robert... Even Robert Pattinson looks up to this guy. Willem Dafoe. This guy has done everything. He's done every...

The top of the game in film and television. He's done some of the most iconic films, some of the most iconic television. He's been nominated for two Emmys, six Golden Globes, four SAG Awards, which he's won two. He's starred in so many 80s classics. He was part of what was then known as... Here we go. ...the Brat Pack. Oh.

He's been in St. Elmo's Fires about last night. This is Robert Lowe. The Outsiders, West Wing, Parks and Recreation. It's our friend, Mr. Robert Lowe. Now that is a beautiful man. Wait a minute. Are you on set right now? He's in a cop uniform. He's got a cop uniform on. It's a fireman's uniform, yes. It's a fireman's uniform. Oh, fireman, sorry. I told the whole crew. I said, I got to go see my boys. I got to go see. See.

See my guy? This is so lovely. He's on the set of 9-1-1 Lone Star, which is the show that he stars in, and he produces in your fourth season? You're shooting your fifth season, maybe? We are almost done with season four. Almost done with season four. Unbelievable. I see clips of that show, and I'm tired looking at it. It looks like 15-hour days. You rude bastard.

- What? - Try watching a full episode, not the clips. - Yeah, watch the episodes, don't watch the clips. - Sean. - The clips don't help. - No, no, like the promos. I mean the promos. And I see your face and I'm like, God, Rob just finished a 15 hour day on that episode. Like it's just looks so like tons of work. - Do you sleep in olive oil, Rob?

Is there a mattress that's got a zip-in olive oil pouch that you sleep into? I know, look at the best skin in the world. I'm an Olympic sleeper. I think that we've talked about, I get a lot of sleep. I have shame around how much I sleep because it makes me seem like- So you still sleep like you're a teenager? Yes. How many hours is that? What time are you in the rack every night, Rob?

Well, today I had to, I had to be in the car at 515 in the morning now, but, but as you know, I live in Santa Barbara. So, and I get, I'm lucky enough to be driven so I can sleep in the car. So I get an extra hour and a half in the car, but I'm, I'm, I was in bed at 930 last night. Okay. And you're, and then you're up at, so what time are you getting up for a 515 get in the car?

514. Truly. 514. Because I don't really want to... Now you're going to get my typical morning questions now. And I'm going to try to keep this clean. But hang on now. Why are you leaving the house without a shower or without emptying yourself? You're doing that in your trailer? All of that? I don't...

I don't do the morning shower. I do the nighttime shower. Nice. Yeah, I get that. I do the nighttime shower. So then what do you do about your bedhead then? You let the people in the makeup hair trailer do all that? That's what the professionals are for. Isn't it nice if they can hold it, Sean? You could save yourself an hour if you don't do makeup and you do your own hair before you leave the house.

How does it save me an hour? That costs me an hour. That means I have to wake up earlier. Yeah, that's true. God, that's great math. God, sorry. Isn't it nice to take a shower at night?

Yeah. It makes you feel like a kid. I sometimes take a shower, put my pajamas on, watch TV, and then you go straight to bed. You brush your teeth and go to bed. Oh, yeah. No, I look forward to going to sleep. I'm like, mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. I do love that. Yeah. Now, Rob, you know, you're an incredibly talented actor. You can't get this far without being a really good actor. Did it ever bother you that, like,

It seems like the only people that get real good accolades as an actor are those that look like character actors. You don't. You look like a leading man. Was it ever frustrating to you that you didn't get the character roles because you were born with leading man looks? Well, first of all, thank you for saying that. And I do feel like I'm a character actor trapped in a leading man's body. Well, look at Austin Powers. You were hysterical in Austin Powers. Oh, thank you. It's a long list. And when I get to...

Johnny Depp's made a career of not... He's so handsome, but he always wears prosthetics and stuff, and so he gets to do these insane characters. Every time I've been able to do that, I've found it very freeing. But...

Yeah. Let's talk about that, 'cause your trajectory has been-- It's so hard-- Everybody's got their own sort of path that they have, but yours has gone through so many different areas. And I was-- A lot of people have peaks and valleys. You haven't even had any valleys. It's been sort of like from peak to peak, and you've just kind of jumped. You started in-- And I mentioned sort of the Brad Pack, but you started in-- Was "The Outsiders" your first big film? Was my first movie, period.

I mean, I- Okay, so talk about that process, how you got it and how it came about and what it was like. I mean, Jesus. I wish you guys had been in that mix. It was an incredible thing. And all of us who went through it are like bonded, we're like band of brothers because Coppola put us through such an arduous, insane, and I think actually illegal Screen Actors Guild-wise process

type of boot camp. Really? Went on for months, months and months and months, mixing and matching. And you'd go into the soundstage and there'd be like Mickey Rourke with roller skates on, stinking like an animal and being treated like he was the Marlon Brando reincarnated. And then you'd have Scott Baio

coming in in a limousine and telling Francis he had to get back to his show. And Francis going, what show? And he goes, Happy Days. And Francis going, what's that? Oh my God. And then you'd have like Ricky Schroeder and, you know, Dennis Quaid. I mean, just anybody and everybody. So he was doing like mixing and matching or were these like kind of forced bonding kind of chemistry reads?

The forced bonding came later, but these were mix and matches with everybody present. So you showed up, everybody showed up at eight o'clock in the morning and you left at, you know, seven o'clock at night and you just sat on the floor and

And he would go, okay, I want to see Dennis Quaid with Henry Thomas and Ricky Schroeder and, you know, whatever. Wow. That's wild. Wow. What was the name of your character again? It wasn't... Soda Pop. Soda Pop. Soda Pop. Yes. Soda Pop. You know what's really cool about The Outsiders is...

is every, you know, it's part of the seventh grade curriculum of almost every school in the country. So every year there's a new group of seventh graders who get introduced to not only to the outsiders, but the, you know, like soda pop Curtis, yay. So that's super cool. And look at you now from soda pop to cop. I literally just had a guy send me a text this morning and he said, stay gold, pointy boy.

He literally said that on a text this morning. From Harry Chung, Will. Oh, yeah? Yeah. I like Harry. I was about to lay in whoever did it, but I like Harry a lot. He's a friend. Harry's a good man. He's a good man. Wait, I remember when you were in Contact. I remember when you were in Contact, and it was like, that's one of my favorite movies of all time. And you showed up on screen. I was like, wait, that's Rob Lowe. I was like, I don't know, 22 years old when it came out or something.

And I was like, wait, Rob Lowe is in this movie. That's so crazy and amazing. Like to Will's point, you would take just all peaks, right? No valleys. And you would appear even if it was the smallest role or a leading role or whatever. There were always scenes, at least the perception was, that they were all super high quality movies and TV shows. Totally. And by the way, sometimes with Sean, Rob, as you know, sometimes it's like having a kid come in because he just goes...

I remember when you were in contact, and you're like, okay, man, we're not just fucking doing freeform, just whatever pops into our fucking head. Yeah.

Jesus Christ. I remember one time I saw you on a fucking what, man? Jesus. I remember. I saw you on a billboard once. Nominated for his question asking skills. Of the three of us, he was nominated for host of the year. Singled out. But Rob, you don't need to. Singled out. Pulled out of the trifecta. No, is this true? This is amazing. It's true. 100% true. Yeah.

The best host of a podcast. Well, there's three of us. No, just Sean. Just Sean. That is the greatest thing I've ever heard. Yeah. He didn't win. Okay? That's the greatest thing I've ever heard. Why? Missed it. Because they finally went and listened to it. And then they were like, oh, shit. Not him. But, Rob, so you do like the outsiders. And it is true what Sean says and what we were saying, which is like you do all these things that are amazing, that have –

that each one of them have a place in, you know, culturally, a place in everybody's lives, whether it's The Outsiders and then St. Elmo's Fire. Which I just saw. I just watched it for the first time ever. Are you serious? I swear to God, never saw it. I watched it like a month or two ago. No, he's saying, are you serious that you're just interrupting again with a blur? Sorry. Sorry.

So you do The Outsiders. What was film number two? After The Outsiders, which was a big sensation, and we all saw it, what was the next thing? What was the move when that came out? Was it like you had everything offered to you? All of us got a lot of offers. I mean, I think Tom did the best with it because he followed it up with Risky Business.

And then that was, you know, the beginning for him. I did a movie called Class with Andrew McCarthy and Jacqueline Bessette. Yes, you did. Oh, I know it well. Good for you, Rob. All right. Yeah, great film. Good for you. Okay. Class act. Right? I know what was going on there. Okay. Okay.

No, no. You don't have to admit to anything on this podcast. You just keep going with your answer. I thought... Wait, I have something I want to say about Contact after Will gets there. Holy fuck. I love that he's obsessed with Contact. I had two lines in it, but it's a good movie. I'm obsessed with you in it, too. Obsessed, Will. I used it. Obsessed, and it's his favorite movie of all time. Go figure. Hey, listen, Rob, so you do...

Thanks to Star Trek. Sometimes it's like, you just gotta breathe. They're right. You just do have to breathe. Finish your juice box, Sean. So, Rob, so you do class with Andy McCarthy. Jacqueline Bessette. Jacqueline Bessette. And then what was after? Then it's Sean's favorite actor, Jodie Foster. Yes. Can I say something about that movie? In Hotel New Hampshire. Oh. In Hotel New Hampshire was gonna be

That was the one everybody, all the young actors wanted to do because they thought it was going to be Oscar-type movie. Because in those days, however you want to call them, Brad Pitt movies, teen movies, John Hughes movies, whatever you want to call them, they were like...

the guilty pleasure of the movie business. Like today they'd be straight movies. There'd be no guilt associated with them at all. In fact, they'd be the tent pole. But in those days it was like, Terms of Endearment's the real movie this year, okay? And, oh, you're doing that trifle over here? Like that's the way it was. That's what it was. It was very segregated in that way. But Hotel New Hampshire felt like

Of course, then it came out the same weekend as Splash. And that was the end of it. Oh, wow. Wasn't that a John Irving book? It's a John Irving book. Yeah, yeah. And it did... I remember when that came out. God, what was that, like...

-There he goes. -85? -84, 83? Late '83. -Wow. So, I know I messed up on that one. Usually I'm really good at reading. -Spot on. -Even just inside the same decade was just incredible. That-- But you did-- I know that you're saying that these are the films that were the-- But these were the films that people were going to see, that all of us were going to see. You know, I mean, I wasn't a huge student of the cinema.

yet. And those are the movies I wanted to go see. I wanted to go see you guys in those. I wanted to go see Youngblood, by the way, as a Canadian. Hey, uh... Dude, Rob, let's talk about Youngblood for a second. Youngblood. Sean, quick five for us? Sure.

Yeah, go ahead. Rob, talk about it. Yeah, go ahead. Youngblood is, it's, I think it might be the second best hockey movie. At first, it's Slapshot, let's face it. Slapshot's one of the greatest movies ever made, period. Mighty Ducks, Mighty Ducks, Mighty Ducks. No, I'm throwing down. I'm sorry. I'm not having it. I'm just not having it. No, I'm with Rob. I'm with Rob. Now, yeah, Youngblood is fun because whenever I get to go to a hockey game, people are super excited because there aren't that many hockey movies.

There aren't that many if you're a hockey fan. There aren't all that many, really. No, dude. And we loved, as a Canadian, we loved Youngblood. And I would say this, Slapshot maybe because it came before and Paul Newman, et cetera, but they're kind of different. They fall into different categories within hockey. So in terms of like a pure hockey movie that's not a comedy, Youngblood is the best in that regard. So they're very different. Yeah, pure hockey. Pretty few young hockey players

I mean, everybody who's played hockey has worn that movie out because it's about coming up into the league. Now, were you a good skater? Were you playing hockey at that time? No. It was horrible. I mean, I...

I could Rockefeller Center date, hold hands, skate. Right. And so I had, it was the first time I ever had a trainer or I had to work out. And we, and I, Swayze was my co-star, Patrick Swayze. And we, we trained every day for, I went as almost eight weeks, six hours a day. Brutal, brutal, brutal training. And I got to be pretty good on skates at that point.

Wow. And Keanu was in it too. No way. As the goalie. He was the goalie. I thought he was an actual French-Canadian goalie. He was, right? We had him on the podcast. We just had him on the podcast. He was a goalie. He was a goalie, yeah. Yeah. There you go. Someone listens. Do you remember interacting with Keanu back then and thinking like, oh, this kid's going to do something? Like, do you have anything like that?

Will, I'm telling you, and this is no slight to Keanu Reeves, who I adore, I thought he was a French-Canadian goalie. Wow. I thought, which probably tells you all you need to know because I thought he was the real thing. That's how good he is. And we will be right back. And now back to the show.

Well, on the same sort of question on outsiders, was it clear to you or if you had to bet on one of those horses to have the kind of longevity that you ended up having in your career, who did you think was going to be with you? Ponyboy would be the horse I'd bet on. Ponyboy is the horse I'd bet on. I mean, yeah. I mean...

Again, and it's funny because Tom has obviously become a legendary, legendary actor. And I'm not sure you would have back in the day, but he had such drive, such...

He had an intensity that none of us have. And then Taps, I think, put him over the top, right? Taps was right before. Taps was before. Oh, okay. Taps made him, yeah. Wow. And he was so good in that movie. I've got it. Taps was my first big Hollywood premiere. I remember that movie really knocking me out. Yeah. Wait, can we go back to the beginning? Go back to contact, sure. And so on contact...

What was Jody? No, I want... But like... I didn't say were you scared. Did you think the aliens were really coming? He's all hopped up on apple juice now. Go, let him go. Do it. Well, no. Well, since you brought it up, the content, but I want to know, I want to go back. Yep. Before the outsiders, but I just want to get this out about contact, my favorite line in the movie. You are the worst.

Go ahead. The only person I know to get drunk on apple juice. Just swerving all over the podcast. I'm dying. I can't believe you're torturing Rob like this. I wanted to get out my favorite line in Contact, which was Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey.

McConaughey was in it? Yeah, Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey. And I think it's like the second time they kiss in the movie. And Jodie pulls away and her first line, I'm not making this up, is, I'm so confused. Like,

And that's your favorite. There goes your nomination for this year. So, no, Jodie Foster's a friend, and she would laugh at that. Fuck me. I want to go back. You are literally crying. Will is literally crying tears of laughter. Rob, you've got your own podcast. You see, it's not easy, right? It's not easy at all. You've got to deal with...

- Anyway. - This is why I do mine alone. - Exactly, if you deal with the nonsense. - Thank you. - No, I love you, Sean. - I love you too so much. So Robby, before "The Outsiders," we kind of just skipped over, like, I don't know anything about your past or your childhood. How did you get that? Wasn't that such a huge deal? What were you doing before that? Like theater or anything?

I was doing theater when I lived in Ohio. My family lived there. I was eight years old and I went and saw a local school production and fell in love with the kid. Like, you know, like I was like, I want to do that. And my parents were like, yeah, sure, whatever. So you had a love for it when you were super young?

Super young, it's all I ever wanted. Knew exactly what I wanted to do. - Wow, isn't that wild? - Wow. - But you couldn't pursue it in Ohio, right? Was there a move out to Los Angeles that triggered like, okay, I actually wanna do this now?

Well, my thing was I'm going to do – I did every sort of university. There was a traveling – oh, God, this thing called the Kenley Players. You've got to look this up, guys. It's the best. We should make a movie about this. The Kenley Players. It would be summer, professional summer. It's like waiting for Guffman but real. John Kenley was –

musical theater producer, lived as a woman in Florida during part of the year, and then was John Kenley in the Midwest. And of course, the Midwestern people were never the wiser. And he would get whoever's the hottest TV star and put them in Camelot or something like that. And then they would tour Dayton, Cincinnati, Akron, Columbus, Flint, Michigan. And you'd like Henry Winkler would come and just crush for four weeks in the summer.

And you'd see like Vic Tabak in Man of La Mancha. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or, and it was the most delicious. Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan. Of course, yes. Jason's old co-star. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. Wait, so Rob, but that's a good point. So you're doing this thing, this touring theater thing, which does sound amazing. And-

And then what? What do I tell you my Paul Lind stories? Well, fucking let's go. Yeah. Look at you, you little giblet. That actually sounded more like Charles Nelson Reilly. No, a mix of the two.

This is definitely a mix of the two. One of my favorite Paul Lin lines on Hollywood Squares was the host said, okay, for the center square for the X, Paul, when a man falls over a boat, you yell, man overboard. What do you yell when a woman falls over a boat? And he goes, false spade ahead. LAUGHTER

Wait, wait, how did you, where did you encounter Paul Lind, first of all, Rob? Oh, the Kenley players. Not on Hollywood Squares. Did you ever do Hollywood Squares? No, I did the $10,000, this is how long it was, how long ago it was, the $10,000 pyramid. Oh, wow. Before it was 25 or 100. Yes, with Dick Clark. And that was my first trip to New York.

publicity trip and I played against Tony Danza and I eviscerated him. I once took Tony Danza deep at the Hollywood stars night. Uh, no way. Yeah. He threw a little cookie over the plate and I took it out to right center field. I love that. Yep. Past the sprinting Lou Ferrigno. Uh huh. Inside the park home run. Did they, what you went around the bases on a gurney or what? You probably pulled something. That at that time I was, uh, I was, I was pretty, pretty limber.

You really were not. I love those old... The old-time Dodger Hollywood stars. The first one I played in, it was such a huge thrill. It was 1979. And I stepped up to the play and went, Now abouting, Rob Lode. No. No way. No way. And...

It was amazing. And I think I might have got a fielder's choice to first base or whatever. And I was like super – because in those days it was super competitive actually. And then at a certain point it devolved into hijinks and then you'd get Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pitching to Billy Barty. Right, with a huge – with a large bat. With a huge bat. Right, yes. And that's what happened and then it all – but it was – that was my –

at the Hollywood Service. I talk to Kimmel about this sometimes. Like, we should approach them and ask them if they would be interested in us just sort of just like, let's make this thing overhand again, you know, fast pitch, baseball. Because, like, now I think it's like softball. They bring in a fence, and we should get it back to... Listen, I'm going to make that... Jason's like, how can we suck the fun back out of it? You know what I mean?

Do you ever hear, Rob, do you ever hear about the golf trip we went on last year and Jay said, on our way there, there were like eight of us, and Jay's like, okay, here's the deal. Everybody has to put everything out. We're going to keep score. It's going to be, and everybody's like, hey. Aggregate score over four days. And everybody's like, hey, man, fucking relax. We haven't even started the trip yet. And he's already won and takes the fun out. Wait, so Rob, okay, we're jumping all over the place, but what I do want to know is, when was the move, because you did all these really successful, great movies, like,

Like I pointed out before, Samwell's Fire, About Last Night, whatever it was, Class, one of my favorites, Masquerade, which I loved as well. Thank you, I liked that one. I thought that was a very underappreciated movie. And then all of a sudden, you made this switch and you're like, well, I'm going to do comedies. And all of a sudden, you became a guy who was like in every comedy in the 90s, you were in them. And it was a big... Was that like a...

Did you make a conscious decision like, yeah, fuck it. I'm done with this. I'm now going to do that. How did that happen? Well, I'd loved, always loved comedy and it was my first love and was obsessed with SNL. I did, for my sixth grade talent show, I did Aykroyd's Basomatic sketch. I loved, loved comedy.

I don't know that one. Bass-o-matic. Oh, yeah. That's that thing where he sells the bass-o-matic and he talks really fast. How many times has this happened to you? You have a bass. It wiggles off the hook. Yeah. And so I hosted SNL. Yeah. And had a really good show and hit it off with Lorne. And I think Lorne saw something in me that nobody had really seen before that I could really be funny. And then...

So when they made Wayne's World into a movie, I had also connected with Mike on the show. And we sort of just got each other. And so when they were making Wayne's World, they were looking for somebody who had been in a movie before.

I mean, Mike and Dana, literally. It was just that simple. I think Rob's been in a movie. Sean, tell Tracy who he's talking about really quickly. Oh, what, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey? There we go. Yeah, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.

- Okay. - You have to use them sparingly, Rob. You know, you give them the easy ones like that and then you move forward. - I know, I got so nervous. - No, no, no, Sean. - So you do-- - Just go ahead, Rob. - So yeah, of course, of course it's Wayne's World. And that makes sense that you get brought in as-- not only have you been in a movie, you've been in a lot of big movies and you're a movie star, so for them it's a great get.

And Lorne's like, so you're going to, Mike's going to write it and you're doing it, Rob. And you start tomorrow. That's right. And you've already said yes. And here's your wardrobe. And you've said yes. And let's go into action. I just, by the way, Will, I just walked with him last week. I hadn't had a good Lorne Michaels walk through Beverly Hills in a long time. And there were so many great quotes. I really, really, really, and we have to do a coffee table book. We have to.

We have to, of Lorne quotes. They're the best. One of my favorite, and I love Lorne. I haven't done the walk with him in a few years now, any of the walks. I've done the beach walk. I've done, obviously, the Beverly Hills Flats walk many times. Wait, this is a known thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That he walks with people? Yeah. Like John Sykes said to me the other day, I just did a walk with Lorne, and then I saw him with Gold... I see him in Goldwyn every time he's in town, John Goldwyn. But I said...

He one time said, we were talking about the South and he just goes, it's a Mason-Dixon line thing. And I was like...

Which I fucking loved. But Rob, what you did with that comedy turn, though, that I sort of felt was it was just, I just thought it was really admirable that you were doing this. If I remember correctly, at a time when people really were still kind of taking themselves pretty seriously and you were not. And you were assigned a lane, too. Yeah. And you said, yeah, you know what? I'm not going to bust out of that lane for a lane of,

I am a character actor and I'm doing Shakespeare now. You actually went the opposite direction. You said, I'm actually going to kind of make fun of myself a little bit here and just pull my pants down a little bit, you know, and kind of not be quite as gorgeous. You know, it was pretty cool. Yeah, really cool. Well, thanks. I mean, I love it and I still love, you know, you guys know, there's nothing, look, I'm talking to a bunch of guys who get to do

you know, get to play in both pools and to do, you know, like to be doing Lone Star now and then the show, which is now on Netflix, Unstable with my son, Hard Comedy. Oh, yeah, you told me about that. That's the fun of it because they're so different. But when I first got into comedy, when I first got into humor, you know, when I first, it was, no one else was in that lane, for sure. No one, no one.

They weren't... And also, SNL was a thing where, like, people...

Like, now everybody wants to do it, does it, doesn't think about it. But in those days, like, ooh, you better be careful. Ooh, I don't know. Like, there was all that shit going on. It's like, be careful of what? Right, yeah. But you do Wayne's World. You do Tommy Boy. You do Austin Powers. And then you jump back and you start doing things like you do a bunch of serious dramas. You do Brothers and Sisters. West Wing.

Well, I was going to say West Wing. Sorry, West Wing first. I was getting to West Wing, but West Wing first, which was a phenomenal show. Then Brothers and Sisters with Robbie Bates. Then you go and you make the jump, and then you start doing... I remember the day that Amy's like, I think Rob Lowe's going to do...

Parks and Rec." And I was like, "What? That's amazing." And all of a sudden, like, you're on a serious drama, and then the next year, you're on a sitcom. And you're on a full-fledged comedy. - Yeah. - You're an agent's dream. - Yeah. - Very few people get that kind of leeway. - I know. It's so true. And can pull it off, and nobody-- And there's no part of you that's like, "Well, he can't do that." You're like, "Yeah, well, yeah, it's Rob Lowe. Yeah, Rob can do it."

Like, that's fucking rad, dude. I mean, you kind of-- So for as much as you feel like you're like a leading-- you know, a character actor trapped inside a leading man's body, you did what you wanted to do anyway, which I think is super fucking rad. And still are doing it. And they're still doing it. -Yeah. -It's pretty rad. Thanks. And then now you're doing your show with Johnny, who's a great kid, whom I know a little bit. -Yeah, your son, Johnny. -I mean, Jesus Christ. That's so cool. I remember you saying-- -telling me that. -Talk about this, dude.

It's, it's so it's, I mean, to be able to work with, with my son, I mean, it all started with him sort of trolling me on, on social media, like just brutalizing me. I mean, mercilessly just for nothing other than to just do it. And it, it, people started to notice and it got to the point that if I was out doing an interview to promote something, whether it was

you know, the Today Show or the Ellen Show, it didn't matter what the venue was, all they really wanted to talk about was, "Your son just loves to make fun of you. We have some of his greatest hits here." And we were like, Jesus Christ. So it got to the point where we both were like, "People really like this. I wonder, is there some there there?" 'Cause I mean, literally the audience is saying,

We want this. We want more of this. So we tried to figure out what it would be. And we're like, well, we're not going to do a reality show. And I don't want to do that thing of playing a heightened version of me because Larry David did it so well. It feels kind of done. So what is it? So we we've distilled it down to really what it is, is like a larger than life show.

benevolent narcissist dad who may or may not be as in touch with the real world as he would like to think. And the world just applauds him. And the son who's just like, oh my God, really? And so we built this show called Unstable. And I play almost like an Elon Musk character

tech genius who's unstable on his best days and maybe insane in his others. And John Owen is the son who can, is the only one who can speak truth to power. It's super fun. It's called Unstable, by the way. Yes. Yes. It's on Netflix now. It's on Netflix because it's streaming. Click it.

Wow. Go ahead, Sean. No, I was just going to say that I know Tommy Boy so well and I'm such a fan of you in it as everything, but I just love that movie. I think that movie is so beloved by so many people. It's amazing. Are you guys like me, by the way, when two people start talking at the same time and then somebody goes, no, no, you go ahead. I can't help but say, oh, no, I was just going to say. Like, I can't stop myself from saying it and I tell myself not to say it. But that's okay. But.

But you too, like you just said it. It's impossible not to say, oh no, I was just going to say. Right? Yeah, it's like you have to say it as an acknowledgement. But it's like yawning when someone else yawns next to you. You can't help it. Anyway, go ahead. Yeah. I was just going to say, Tommy Boy is a movie where like Wayne's World, we thought might do well and Austin Powers-

They had that thing. Tommy Boy, no one ever expected that movie, ever, to do. And that started with playing tennis. I was playing tennis with Lauren. I'll never forget it. Lauren, Bernie Brillstein, myself, John Goldwyn, playing doubles. Perfect. And Lauren's saying, you know, I think there's something with you and Farley playing brothers. Really? And I was like, wow, that'd be great. And I never heard another thing about it. And then, you know, whatever, six months later, Tommy Boy morphs into...

what it is, but I don't think anybody thought. And that's the one that I do think has, you know, who did I just talk to? Oh, Jonah Hill. Yeah. Jonah Hill, and I'm not kidding, will tell you that his favorite movie in the world is

is Tommy Boy. Yeah. I'd be pretty close to that. Over Goodfellas, Over the God, I'm telling you, Tommy Boy. It's insane. No, it's one of the greatest comedies of all time. I mean, it's right up there with all of the classics. Now, did Chris make you laugh as much offset as on camera? He did, and when you were doing your meek laugh, I thought you were doing Farley. Do your meek laugh, Jason, because it literally is Farley. That's Farley's laugh.

He killed me. I mean, Chris Farley and Will Ferrell, there's just... There's no one funnier than those two guys to me. No one. Ever. We'll be right back. All right. Back to the show. So you do Tommy Boy. You do all this. So then you do... Talk about West Wing because West Wing was such a...

I mean, that show just, still, you can watch it. You can turn it on today and it just completely holds up. It's so good. Isn't that kind of making a resurgence? Like, I hear people talking about that. They now watch it a lot. Yeah, because politics is such a big part of society now more so than then, I think.

Right. It's interesting about West Wing is you could it kind of comes and goes. It was people liked it when it was on. And then in the early years of Netflix, the early years, I think it was that and friends were drove Netflix. Yeah. And then it went off the platform.

And now something's going on that they're into it again. I don't know what it is, but I'm hearing a lot about it again too. I don't know. So Rob, like us, you've been doing the pod, you've been in the podcast space. I like calling it the space.

It does sound good. It's good, right? We're in the podcast space. It's better than content. You should hear me go off about, Rob, I hate when people go, I'm a content creator. So you just make fucking shit? Or storyteller. If you're a storyteller or a content provider. How have you liked doing the podcast, literally, with Rob Lowe? I love it. I have so much fun. Yeah.

Because I, you know, it's what you guys are, you're just riffing, you're having a good time, you're saying what's on your mind. And sometimes the most trivial stuff is the most fun to talk about. And then you get guests on and I get, you know, a lot of them I have known forever and ever and ever and know them in a very specific way that no one else is ever going to know them in the way that I do. Right. So I'm able to bring out sides of them

that no one else is going to be able to do because they don't have the history that I have with them. And, you know, I had Whoopi Goldberg on recently and I was like, Whoopi, do you remember when we were on the California toxic clean water caravan with Michael J. Fox, Jane Fonda, Cher? Just picking up trash down at Santa Monica Pier. And we went through the McDonald's drive-thru. Do you remember? Like, like...

Where else are you going to get that? You know what I'm saying? So it's super fun. Rob has got so many unbelievable, you're kind of like, and we always hammer Jason, and Kimmel loves hammering Jason for stories about, you know, back when he was a teen actor and stuff. You guys have such a long history in this town of doing stuff like that.

weird-ass shit where you're like, yeah, I was on a 10-hour overnight train journey with LeVar Burton. I know. We were going to Vienna, on our way to Vienna to see the... Like, what the fuck? I know, and that Jason went to school with Janet Jackson is so crazy. Jason was on the massage bus with Janet Jackson, which is like fucking crazy. That's a whole other...

Thing, Rob. I once saw Rob on a boat in the south of France and he comes on and goes, we were just, we just got washed out, right? You got washed out by a flooded river or some shit. Remember that? Yeah, I survived a flash flood in France. It was like a legit, like real flash flood. Got saved. I would be rescued by the police. Oh, by the way, Jason, we, so I did Jimmy's show and there's a game that's named after you that they're now renaming after me. I just want you to know. The game. Truly? Yeah.

- Yes, it's the game where you put the names in the hat and then you pull the hat out and then you have to tell a story about the name. - He pulls a name out of a hat or some random celebrity from years past and you have to tell a story associated with it. - Oh, I bet Rob, Rob, you must crush that. - Oh, you must crush that. - I want you and I to play that game. We should go mano a mano.

I would give anything to watch you two fucking go on that. Let's just play a version right now. I'll pick a name for you, and then you pick a name for me. That's a great idea. Okay, I'm ready. Okay. Telly Savalas. I don't have any direct interaction with him, but I believe my wife that that might—or no.

He may be her godfather, or maybe he's the godfather of Jen Aniston. Wait, what? I think he's Jen's godfather, right? I think he's Jen's godfather, and Amanda and she are so close, so that's why. That's pretty good. It's adjacent, too, which reminds me of my new construction company. It's called Adjacent Abatement, and what we do is we go in and we take mold out from... Sorry. All right, here's my one for you. Pia Zadora.

Yeah. Okay. You have one? So I was making out on the colony beach with Gregory Peck's daughter. Oh my God. Everybody shut up. Keep going, Rob. And I hear this woman going, that's disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself. Don't you have any common decency?

There are children on this beach. And I looked up and it was Pia Zadora. That's crazy. But how about for bonus points, we get Gregory Peck's daughter and the Malibu colony. I mean, Rob Lowe, this man is royal. You're a hero. I mean, come on. Rob, Jesus Christ. How long have you known Downey? Ninth grade history class. Wow. Out there in Malibu? Sam O'High, Santa Monica High School. Wow.

I could see it. I remember at Christmas when I saw you at the Christmas party and then I saw you talk to Downey and I was like, I could immediately see like, oh, this is deep. This is deep, long, deep, deep. You guys have that shorthand of knowing each other since being kids. Yeah. That was so... And there was no one more fun to party with

Downey made me laugh harder than any human being in the world. Yeah, he's super funny. I just love what he's done with his life. And he's such an inspiration and a great guy. Oh, by the way, Downey was on the bus with Cher and Whoopi Goldberg as well. I mean, we were always doing that stuff together. My mom used to call her Whoopi. Well, because in her defense, she couldn't see the whole word because the W was covered because that's where the I...

The bunny. Rob, do you think you'd be able to recall enough to write a satisfying book? He's written a book. Sorry. Let me finish. And he's toured it very successfully. But in a book, when I say book, I mean a follow-up to. Like a series. Yes, yes. What's it called? Stories I Only Tell My Friends. Is that right? Stories.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends, and the follow-up, Love Life. So we were talking about the third one. The third one is called Names and Dates. It's just names and dates and what fucking happened. Gregory Peck's daughter, March 12th, Isadora. Yeah.

You know? Yeah. So now, Rob, and now you're back. I know that your new thing, well, not new, but you're obsessed with golf. You've been playing a lot. You and I played a couple months ago with Danny Dees, by the way. Rob's good buddies with Danny. Yeah. Who's a friend of the program. Mm-hmm. Yeah, he's the best. He's the best. He's the world's only good finance guy. And...

That's right. You were talking about how obsessed you are with, and your game is getting really good. I mean, you're just getting there. You're on it, right? Like, you're practicing a lot. Oh, I practice all the time. I don't get to play as much because I don't have that much time, really, but I'm practicing every...

easily four days a week like today i'm at fox is there a goal yes yes my goal is to do what you did i want to play i want to play in the at&t how was that for you that was incredible i mean will almost won the damn thing but um i i i had a really good time myself too and all you got to do is just put your hand up they'll have you up there i mean you're in you're in for next year with us come on it was such a blast we it was amazing guys i'm

I'm doing it. I'm 100% doing it. It always falls right in the middle of the production schedule, but I'm actually going to ask for the time off next year. I'm absolutely committing to doing it. There you go. I got to follow Tiger inside the ropes at Genesis. Oh, wow.

Yeah, I got to be inside the ropes with Tiger, Rory, and JT. It was insane. Wow. Oh, yeah. Those rounds were incredible. Were you there the day when Tiger birdied the last three holes and they all birdied 18 together? No, that was the day after. I was there the day that he almost had the hole in one. Yeah. Oh, that was incredible. Yeah. One revolution. But I also saw him, you know the green with the sand trap in the middle of it? Six. Oh, God, yeah. Totally. You saw him putt into the sand trap. Okay.

Yes. Did you see that? Tiger Woods putt in, putt into the sand trap, which just to me was the most beautiful thing in the world because I'm like, okay, that's the greatest who ever hoisted a golf club. Yeah. And even he can do that.

And even it was the thing was he was going to take his medicine. He was going to, you know, it's that thing we always do where we can't quite bring ourselves to take our medicine. Yeah. We kind of also want to do the, he kind of, and. He did get up and down for four though. He did, but I've putted into that bunker twice. Yeah. In my life. I bet you didn't make four. Twice. And the other thing he did that I noticed was whenever he would do something like that, he would go to another gear place.

in whatever the next hole was. Like another gear. I want to get Tiger on this show. I know, it would be great to have him on. Me too. God, Rob, I could just listen to you talk about all your... I know, I love it. God, it's just everything. Whether it's his movies or his shows or his life. By the way, Will, this is what the podcast is. I mean, because a lot of times somebody will bring up something and I'll go, that reminds me, because I do have a Telly Savalas story where

I was eight years old and Kojak was coming to Dayton, Ohio to sign autographs in the ladies undergarments of Reich's department store. Is that true? It was. Yeah, absolutely true. And so I got my bus fare together. Autographing underwear on, on the third floor is Telly Savalas. Yeah. Yeah. And he was probably doing a Kenley players. It was probably Telly Savalas and you know you know, some Arthur Miller show. And,

I take the bus and I wait in line forever. And I bought him a sucker because I know Telly Savalas likes, remember Kojak always had the sucker? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, he always had like a Charms blow pop. That was his thing. And so I bought him one and I brought it and I was going to give it to him. And it's a three and a half hour line. And I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. I finally get right to the front of the line and they go, that's it, Mr. Savalas has to leave. And he fucking bails. And I'm standing there with my sucker. Mm-hmm.

And I kind of look for somebody I think is important and I go, excuse me, would you give Mr. Savalas my sucker? And he goes, oh, kid, that's so thoughtful. I sure will. And I walk away and I'm going down the escalator. I turn around to watch and the guy throws it in the trash can. Oh, God.

That's awful. That actually stayed with me forever because whenever I meet someone, I'm always like, don't be Telly Savalas. Don't throw it in the sun. Right, right, right. And they give you a bag of freshly cooked homemade cookies. And you're like, I'm going to eat these. In fairness, it wasn't Telly who did it. It was a guy. It's true. It's true. It wasn't Telly. He probably would have taken it. Telly would have sucked it for sure. No.

He probably would have shoved it, thrown it at you. Well, I want to listen. I haven't listened. I'm not really into podcasts. Well, you make a hit podcast. You don't need to listen to another one. I get it. It's a radio show. To Will, he's doing radio. It is radio. It's Morning Zoo. I feel like it's Morning Zoo. Drive time. Yeah, drive time. I'm just trying to copy my buddy Johnny Vaughn over there in the UK. And Rob, you're a helicopter pilot.

How's the traffic on the five? Yeah. You know, it's looking a little backed up over here as the pole would have passed. It's pale lights as far as you can see. We got the uniform for it. Well, Rob, let's get out again. Let's get out and play again. Yes. It's really fun. And,

I want to be a part of that as soon as my granddad backheels up. Yeah, that's not good, man. No, I know. Don't come back too soon. I know. I got a date coming up in two days. Are you doing ice baths? You got a date in two days? And Amanda's cool with that? She's just like... She wants me to be smart and safe, and she's letting me make my own decision, which is nice. So she doesn't mind that you're... Are you both dating, or is it just you? Yeah.

I am icing it. That does seem to help. Good, yeah. I'll tell you one of the nicest things, and this is a true story. This is not a bit. I hurt my back a couple years ago now, and I was at, and I texted JB. I was like, my back really hurts. Anyway, I was at home, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, into my backyard comes Jason, and he's got like a back heating thing, like an icy hot thing, and a fire.

a bunch of stuff that he brought for my back. I just dropped it off and then I got back to my car and left. And he came into my backyard. I was in the sauna and he came in and he knocked and he's like, I got all this stuff. Just like a little angel. And then got back in his car and left. That's right. Once a year. Yeah. Once, once, yeah. Once a decade. Even a stop clock. I thought even a stop clock, you know? Yeah. Tells the right time twice a day. Okay, listen, Rob...

We love you, man. I'm so excited about your show with John, and he's such a nice kid. Please say hi to him for me. Yeah, and also say hi to Cheryl. And to Cheryl, your lovely wife of many years. So sweet. God, you guys are such nice peeps, and couldn't happen to a better dude. I love you guys. I was so excited. You're three of my favorite, in all series, three of my favorite people.

I love everything about you guys. I love hanging with you. I love your work. I love your podcast. Dude, Bateman, you're making me laugh right now so hard in the fucking trailer for the Air Jordan movie. I know. It's like only you can fucking steal a trailer with one laugh. Yeah, I know. It's so great. You're nice. It's amazing. You're amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Love you, miss you, mean it. Yeah. Love you, miss you, mean it. Santa Barbara. Yep. We'll go, you know, and hang or in, but let's make it happen. Just get fired off one of these 10,000 jobs you're doing and free some time up and let's go hang out. I know. All right. Stop working so hard. All right. It has to be the weekends. Thank you, the great Rob Lowe.

Bye, Rob Lowe. Love you. It's Lowe. It's Lowe. Don't forget, podcast Rob Lowe, literally, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to Rob's podcast. It's very good, y'all. And Unstable on Netflix. You're watching it. You're loving it. Everything Rob Lowe-ed all the time. Love you, boys. Thanks for doing this, Rob. Bye, buddy. Bye. Lovely man. That Rob Lowe. That Rob Lowe. He's...

He's just always been nice, always been talented, always been handsome. Yeah. That's...

Another guy I'd like to come back as. I think there's a long list here of guests we've had that I'd like to... Yeah, you could talk to him for hours. We tried to get him on. I tried to get him on before. He was the one we had technical glitch a couple weeks ago. Oh, yeah? That was Rob. Oh, that was Rob. Oh, I didn't know. So I've been trying to get him on here forever. You know, we had a technical glitch with McConaughey way back when, right? When are you going to rebook him? I don't know. I want to get him back on here. Yeah.

That was great. Because when we do have McConaughey on, then we can go through, hopefully we have the recording of... Of me having my hissy fit? When you had your... Didn't I snap at him a little bit? Didn't I tell him? You did. Your laughing is not making things helpful, surprise guest. Who is laughing? And then you slammed your...

Yeah, that was so great. And then we can talk about contact. We can talk about contact. You know, but it did occur to me. You're going to fucking break me today, Sean, with the contact. It occurred to me earlier, like it is somewhat, it's either dangerous or good or whatever about this thing is that we do this all the time. We're always just sort of just, you know, almost every day we're picking up, we're talking with one another, no matter what mood we're in. And we drag that into these interviews, these conversations for the public and

And oftentimes, we're doing this thing in a bad mood. And like, what if we like, what if we get in a fight with one another? I mean, I know it's been tense a couple times, but like, people just get like warts and all on this. Is that smart for us to be doing that? Why not? It's real. It's normal. It's real, I guess. Also, who cares? Who cares? We're not going to get in a fight. Like, what's the worst we've ever... Fuck you, Sean. Fuck you. Don't you disagree with what I'm saying? We've had, I think it's...

I don't know. I just think like, I really mean it when I say who cares. We might as well. Yeah. Right? Because it's going to be lights out at some point and then... And,

Anyway, Rob Lowe. Love Rob Lowe. Love Rob. This Rob Lowe. Hey, you know, Rob was in contact. Rob was in contact. He was. He was in contact. And by the way, he's not allergic to work. Boy, he works a lot. By the way, just for the record, no recollection of him in contact or Matthew McConaughey for that matter. Well, Matthew McConaughey and Jodie Foster were the stars. Yeah, yeah. But I only remember her in it. And wasn't there a kid too? No? There were no kids.

Oh, I'm conflating. You're thinking of Nell? Another Jodie Foster vehicle. I do remember the incredible opening pullback, right? From Earth. Amazing. All the way back. Oh, and I emailed you that one shot where she runs into the mirror. Into the mirror, yep. How'd they do it? I still don't know how they did it. Oh, that's the kid when she was a little kid. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Mm-hmm.

But wait, in his show that he's doing now, the 9-1-1 Lone Star, I couldn't tell if he was a cop or a CIA or an FBI. All right, Willa Lowe. Go high, go high, go high. Willa Lowe. And repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. I love it. I love it a lot. Smart. Lawless. Smart. Lawless.

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