'It was a hit piece': Rob Lowe reflects on 'horrible' article that changed his career
Rob Lowe has reflected on the media moment that changed his acting career when he was at the height of his fame.
Lowe was in his early twenties and part of a group of young actors at the peak of success when the article 'Hollywood's Brat Pack' was published in New York Magazine in 1985, the work of writer David Blum.
"The article was horrible," Lowe told PEOPLE in this week's cover story.
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The 1985 article dubbed Lowe and his co-stars the 'Brat Pack.' New York Magazine
"It was a hit piece, there's no doubt about it. It was designed to belittle us, make us look small, with that journalistic trick of plausible deniability."
Lowe was at the height of his success following the movie St Elmo's Fire that same year co-staring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham.
The article featured Lowe, Estevez and Nelson.
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Lowe with the cats of St Elmo's Fire. Columbia Pictures/St Elmo's Fire
"This is the Hollywood 'Brat Pack,'" Blum wrote.
"It is to the 1980s what the Rat Pack was to the 1960s — a roving band of famous young stars on the prowl for parties, women and a good time."
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The ripple effect of the article also impacted their co-stars acting careers, despite not being featured in the cover photo. These included Molly Ringwald who co-starred with Estevez and Judd in The Breakfast Club.
Lowe in the move St Elmo's Fire, his third release in a string of hits. Columbia Pictures/St Elmo's Fire
Lowe says the aftermath of the article "was no fun" adding that it "probably didn't help our credibility."
He says he made peace with the moniker faster than his co-stars.
"I think I realized that probably quicker than the rest of the [group] that it was a good thing," Lowe said.
St Elmo's Fire co-star Andrew McCarthy re-examined the drama in his 2024 documentary BRATS, interviewing Lowe, Estevez, Sheedy and Moore.
He too has made peace with the label.
Lowe sits down with Andrew McCarthy to re-examine the drama. AP
"It was a seminal point for me becoming comfortable in the space I occupied as an actor, for lack of a better term, and the beginning of a real rocket-ship ride."
Lowe looks back on his early career success with fondness, kicked off by a starring role in the 1983 movie The Outsiders by Francis Ford Coppola, followed by Class and then St Elmo's Fire which cemented he and his co-stars as the 'it' actors of the eighties.
"We were so lucky to be in the right place at the right time, as the movie business was beginning a transition to where it landed and still exists, which is movies made almost exclusively for 18-to-20-year-olds," Lowe told McCarthy in the documentary.
Rob Lowe has reflected on the media moment that changed his actor career. PEOPLE
"Every summer movie that's out is geared toward that audience. It wasn't always like that. But we were there at a time when that began.
"Not only being in the Brat Pack, but being around at that time, it not only changed all of our lives. It changed what entertainment is."
Lowe most recently collaborated with his son John Owen Lowe for the Netflix series Unstable with both serving as writers and Executive Producers for the series.
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