Highlights from a Lowe Life: 5 Quotes from Rob Lowe #OgilvyCannes #CannesLions

1. from a lowe life
highlights
quotes from rob lowe
with mcgarrybowen

2. mcgarrybowen | rob lowe
on being a jack of
alltradesLowe 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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3. mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 2
on
thewestwing
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.

4. mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 3
on
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.”

5. mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 4
on screwing up...
and bringing
itbackNever 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.”

6. mcgarrybowen | rob lowe 4
on
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.”