Former teen idol Rob Lowe looks back on the experiences he had on The West Wing, and keeping some secrets to himself, he hints that the full truth would “make the people involved look so bad.”
The 59-year-old actor, who wooed audiences since he first appeared on screen almost 45 years ago, recently shared some stories about the unhealthy relationship he had with the political drama that ran over seven series, ending in 2006.
With perfectly chiseled cheekbones, blue eyes and dark hair, Rob Lowe has been a fan favorite since he gained notoriety in films of the 1980s, like Outsiders, Oxford Blues and St. Elmo’s Fire.
A member of the Brat Pack, an exclusive group of young actors that include Robert Downey Jr., Andrew McCarthy and Demi Moore, Lowe transitioned from big screen to little screen star on The West Wing, a political drama where his performance earned him several award nominations.
The West Wing, a multiple award-winning show, was created by Aaron Sorkin and had an ensemble cast, including Allison Janney, John Spencer and Stockard Channing, as the fictional Democratic Administration of President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen, dad to Brat Pack friend Emilio Estevez) in the White House.
In the first three seasons, Lowe’s Sam Seaborn–Director of Communications at the White House–was a leading role in every episode.
But in 2003, the middle of the fourth season, Lowe’s character was culled, leaving fans heartbroken over his infrequent appearances. In the seventh and final season, Lowe reprised his role for two episodes.
At the time, it was reported that Lowe was written out over money and screen time disputes. But in early August 2023, Lowe spoke with Stitcher Studios’ Podcrushed podcast and revealed the real reason for his departure.
“Whenever I talk to actors who complain about, you know, their relationships on their shows, it happens–it happens in any workplace,” Lowe told the hosts, saying he felt “very undervalued.” He continues, “You could be in an environment where people sandbag you, want to see you fail, don’t appreciate you, whatever it is…I did not have a good experience and tried to make it work and tried to make it work and tried to make it work.”
The 9-1-1: Lone Star actor compared his relationship with The West Wing to the abusive relationships his children experienced in their older years.
“My kids were getting to a certain age where I could see them having first girlfriends and being in a relationship that was abusive and taking it,” Lowe said. “‘She’s the popular girl, everybody likes her, she’s beautiful, it must be great’–all the things that people would say about making The West Wing to me. ‘It’s so popular, it’s so amazing, it must be amazing.’ But I know what it’s like, and if I couldn’t walk away from it, then how could I empower my kids to walk away from it?”
Describing his departure from The West Wing as walking away “from the most popular girl at school,” the star of Youngblood continued to say, “but I also knew that it was a super-unhealthy relationship, and it was the best thing I ever did.”
Breaking up with The West Wing 20 years ago proved to be a wise plan.
In 2006, the handsome star joined the cast of Brothers & Sisters, using his political acting prowess from The West Wing to portray a former Republican Senator. Starring alongside Sally Field, Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths, Lowe left the family after season four, in the TV series than five seasons from 2006 to 2011.
Next, with stars like Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt, he tested his comedic chops on Parks and Recreation, where he was a regular cast member until season six.
Since 2020, the About Last Night…star has a leading role in the TV series, 9-1-1: Lone Star, the spinoff from 9-1-1, where he plays a firefighter in the drama about first responders.
It also gives him the opportunity to work with his son, John Owen Lowe, who has written multiple episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star, which was recently renewed for a fifth season. The proud father and his son also star on the Netflix series, Unstable.
Though the Hollywood heartthrob has moved on, the demise of Sam Seaborn still stings.
The Code Black star shared anecdotes about the show in his 2011 memoir, “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” but said some secrets he will never reveal.
“Whenever I share my stories, people are like, ‘I will never share my own stories again. They would make your hair stand up, and there’s some of them I wrote. I shared some of them in my book, but I purposely didn’t share half of the other ones because it would make the people involved look so bad that I didn’t want to do it to them.”
There appeared to be no bad blood on the set when HBO Max aired a reunion special of The West Wing. The cast reassembled in 2020, hoping to inspire voters to have their say at the 2020 presidential elections.
At the time of filming, Lowe shared with People that filming the special was “surreal,” explaining “in getting ready to do it, it felt like it had been a thousand eons ago.”
“Then when the cameras rolled, and it was just Martin Sheen and I sitting down as Sam and President Bartlet, it felt like it was yesterday, and everybody was as good as I remembered them.” Lowe continued, “It was like a great, classic rock band that hadn’t lost a step.”
Perhaps the mystery of Rob Lowe leaving The West Wing is finally solved! We don’t doubt his departure was in part due to experiences on set but at the same time, we’re sure there’s more to the story that we may never know.
Still, we are so happy that Lowe is still acting because he is one of the sexiest 59-year-olds that we’ve ever seen!
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