Rob Lowe recalls how a young Tom Cruise went ‘ballistic’ when they were booked to share hotel room during The Outsiders production in early 80s
Rob Lowe said that a young Tom Cruise went ‘ballistic’ when they were placed in the same New York City hotel room to stay in during production of their 1983 motion picture The Outsiders.
In addition to Cruise and Lowe, the Francis Ford Coppola-directed motion picture featured a lineup of future stars, including Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio and the late Patrick Swayze.
The 56-year-old actor, speaking with Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, said that the incident came at a time the film was being cast, and actors from both coasts were united to test chemistry for the crime drama.
Memory lane: Rob Lowe, 56, said that a young Tom Cruise went ‘ballistic’ when they were placed in the same New York City hotel room to stay in during production of their 1983 motion picture The Outsiders. The actor was snapped in Hollywood in February
‘All of the L.A. people survived the L.A. auditions, and then the hand-picked people had to go to New York to face the New York version; so it was me and Tom Cruise and Emilio and C. Thomas Howell,’ the Parks and Recreation actor said.
Lowe, who is father to two sons – Matthew, 27, and John Owen, 25 – noted that the trip marked the ‘first time [he] ever stayed at The Plaza Hotel,’ adding, ‘We check-in and Tom finds out that we’re sharing a room and just goes ballistic … I mean it made me laugh, it was gnarly. ‘
Lowe said that the incident was reflective of Cruise’s confidence in himself early on.
‘To me, what’s great about the story is, there’s certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today and the rest is history,’ the veteran actor told Shepard. ‘And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in Endless Love and like a 7th lede in Taps could have that kind of like wherewithal.
Way back when: The actors were seen in this exchange in the movie, along with co-star C. Thomas Howell
Ensemble: The 1983 film features a cast of (L-R) Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise
Pre-Top Gun: Lowe said Cruise’s confidence and focus was high on the set of the 1983 movie
‘I remember going, “Wow, this guy is the real deal.”‘
He said ‘you can’t argue with the results’ of Cruise’s career, adding, ‘He’s had his eye on the ball since day one.’
In the movie, which was based off of S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel The Outsiders, Lowe played the role of Sodapop Curtis to Cruise’s Steve Randle.
Lowe told Shepard that Cruise was ‘relentless’ in his stunt work on production of the film, and ‘ended up being the only one who could do a backflip.’
He added: ‘It is in the movie The Outsiders for no reason – just to do it.’
Hanging in there: The actor is currently locking down at his Southern California home