‘People want the real’: Lowe relishes podcast
An actor, author and producer, Rob Lowe is adding podcaster to his impressive résumé. The “St. Elmo’s Fire” star has been enjoying himself while quarantining in Montecito, California, with his family. He’s been releasing weekly episodes of his new podcast, “Literally! With Rob Lowe,” in which he interviews celebrities and personal friends such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Magic Johnson and “Parks and Recreation” co-star Chris Pratt. He also has been preparing for the second season of “9-1-1: Lone Star,” a FOX spinoff of “9-1-1” that focuses on fire, police and ambulance departments in Austin, Texas.
Lowe, 56, joins USA TODAY via phone call to talk about his experience as a new podcaster, how he’s been staying in shape while stuck at home, and his role as a first responder in “9-1-1: Lone Star” during the COVID-19 era.
Question: You started your podcast, which debuted at No. 3 on the charts worldwide. What inspired you to start it, and how has your podcasting experience been so far?
Rob Lowe: It’s been in the works for almost a year, and I started it because it felt like the next logical step after writing my two books and doing my one-man show across the country. It’s the next way to tell stories. It’s the next way to hear stories. And I’ve got such a diverse, interesting arsenal of friends, and I was really looking forward to sharing those relationships with people in a way that they would never otherwise get to experience.
Q: Can you tell us who your favorite guest was so far?
Lowe: Every guest has had their own certain type of thing that I loved. Like, the Chris Pratt episode is very different from the Magic Johnson episode, which is very different from the Keegan-Michael Key episode, which is very different from Gwyneth (Paltrow). And Conan! I mean, the Conan one is pretty great. I’m just glad that I can’t pick one. Every
guest has been just exactly what I hoped they would be: just respected, really original conversations and hilarious.
Q: What can we expect from your next podcast with Mike Myers (airing Thursday) and Nikki Glaser?
Lowe: Well, it’s back-to-back hilarious. I love that the podcast is a safe space in a really divisive, complicated world. And these two are great because they’re hilarious. Mike has some really great insights into how he creates Austin Powers, and Nikki and I had a really interesting conversation about sobriety because we’re both sober, and that’s also funny because she’s a hilarious woman and also accomplished, and
I don’t think people often get to hear that side of her – that thoughtful, intorecovery side along with being so funny.
Q: As you mentioned, you love to tell stories. What have you learned from podcasting that differs from book writing or performing on stage?
Lowe: What I’ve learned is actually, whether it’s being on stage in a one-man show or writing books or doing the podcasting, the job is the same for all of them: You have to be authentic. You can’t be projecting an image. Honesty, transparency, curiosity are what makes all of those different things work. People want the real, and I’m trying to give them that.
Q: Speaking of quarantine, what else have you been doing while stuck at home? How have you been staying in shape?
Lowe: Well, like everybody, I think I let my guard down and probably had one too many run-ins with ice cream, so thank God Atkins keeps providing me with that because I’m their spokesperson so I get all the milkshakes and new bars and am trying to do that for dessert instead of ice cream. I feel like, you know, I’m getting ready to come back to shoot the new “9-1-1: Lone Star,” so I’ve gotta get myself together. I go to my lowcarb, high-protein way of eating, and it feels good to get into a certain fighting shape. I think a lot of people are on the same boat where we’ve been eating comfort food. There’s a reason we call it comfort food.
Q: “9-1-1: Lone Star” was renewed for a second season. How was your experience playing Owen Strand, who seems quite different from your other roles?
Lowe: It’s such an honor to play a version of our real-life heroes. The first responders, whether it’s in a pandemic, fire, a disaster – they’re there every day on our worst days, and I love shining the light on them. A superhero shouldn’t just be somebody who wears a cape and a mask. I’m having the time of my life on this show.
Q: Your character and his son both go through their fair share of struggles. How did you prepare to play a character who dealt with so many tragedies, like surviving 9/11?
Lowe: We’re going this year to do a flashback episode of my character on 9/ 11, and it’s gonna be really powerful and I’m really excited to do this episode. And you know, one of the things I love about the father-son stuff: I have 2 boys who are exactly the same age as my son on the show, so that fatherhood mentorship stuff comes really naturally to me. My son writes on the staff of “9-1-1: Lone Star,” so I think there is an authenticity to it that resonates big time.
Q: Can you tell us what to expect in the second season?
Lowe: Well, I know that people have been wanting, as have I, for a crossover episode. I would love to be with Peter Krause, Angela Bassett, and we don’t know yet, but we’re working on a big crossover episode that would just be spectacular. So, hopefully, this will be the season that we get it, and it will probably come sooner than later.
Q: The beloved coming-of-age film “St. Elmo’s Fire” turned 35 this year. If you could give your character Billy some advice, what would it be?
Lowe: Billy, for the love of all things holy, put down the hair mousse. I love that this many years later, we’re still talking about this movie. If you had told me when it came out, particularly after reading the reviews, that we would be talking about this, I never would have believed it. I love critics - I particularly love critics when they love me – (but) they did not like my movie, they did not like me in it, they didn’t like any of us in it, and at the end of the day, the critics didn’t know anything but the audience knew everything. I love that (“St. Elmo’s Fire”) still has a place for people.
Q: As we’re all living in a pandemic, what advice would you give our readers during this time?
Lowe: Well, here’s one thing. It’s sort of fun advice: Everybody knows those movies they’ve heard of or they’re supposed to watch that are supposedly the best movies ever made, even if you’ve never seen them. This is your moment. “Citizen Kane,” “Casablanca,” “The Graduate,” whatever that movie is that you’ve always heard people talk about, this is the moment to do it.
So we’ve been doing that as a family, we’ve been catching up. My boys had never seen “The Graduate,” blew their mind I love the movie “Network,” it’s renowned as one of the best movies ever made, and I showed it to my boys and they were like “eh, I guess so.” We’ve had a lot of fun doing that. A lot of fun playing board games ... Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble. It feels very much like we’re in a lake house back in 1975.