Tom Cruise, who has an impressive filmography and a fierce commitment to his work, is unquestionably one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors. But despite his fame, his private life has often been shrouded in mystery. His fellow actors have also taken notice of this as well.
Did you know that Rob Lowe, who starred alongside Cruise in The Outsiders, once stated he had lost contact with the Endless Love star and knew little about his personal life? Lowe’s remarks only heighten the intrigue because they imply that Cruise may have perfected the art of separating his personal and professional lives while maintaining a distance from his former co-stars.
For the unversed, the two actors shared the spotlight in the 1983 film The Outsiders, which helped both actors get their immense start in the entertainment industry.
Rob Lowe Has Lost Contact With The Outsiders’ Co-Star Tom Cruise
When Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise took on their roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, two very young but ambitious actors first came into contact with each other, exactly 40 years ago. Both had a great working relationship while filming a 1983 coming-of-age crime drama film. However, based on Lowe’s past remarks on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, it appeared the two are no longer in touch. The Hotel New Hampshire star shared:
“When I run into Tom Cruise I don’t know anything about his life now but when we’re together it’s like we’re 18-years-old again and it’s like time has completely stopped.”
When asked about his best actors’ friends by Radio Andy co-host Andy Cohen, Lowe added the following:
“When you come up with people like that and you work with some of them, I look at it as that was my fraternity and my fraternity brothers. We’ve all gone on to other things and our lives are in very different places, but when we get together its like we’re in the fraternity.”
When asked if he was still in touch with members of the Brat Pack, Lowe admitted:
“I’m not really in touch with anybody. I work really hard, I live in Santa Barbara outside of L.A. and I have my two kids and my wife and other businesses. I’m not working I become a hermit, in a good way. I’m not out, it’s just not my thing. So when I see somebody from the good old days it’s so awesome.”
For those who are unfamiliar, the Brat Pack refers to a group of young actors who have often starred together in teen-focused coming-of-age movies in the 1980s.
Rob Lowe On Working With Tom Cruise While Auditioning For The Outsiders
Rob Lowe once recalled his first encounter with Tom Cruise while a guest on Dax Shepard’s podcast, Armchair Expert:
“All of the L.A. people survived the L.A. auditions, and then the handpicked 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.”
Lowe stated that they were all staying at The Plaza Hotel in New York City and that the Losin’ It actor was undoubtedly unhappy to learn that they would be sharing a room (as per the Armchair Expert podcast):
“First time I ever stayed at The Plaza Hotel. We check in and Tom finds out that we’re sharing a room, and just goes ballistic.”
Even so, Lowe had nothing negative to say about Cruise:
“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. And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in Endless Love, and like, a seventh lead in Taps, could have that kind of, like, wherewithal? I remember going, ‘Wow, this guy is the real deal.’”
The actor, whose television movie, The Bad Seed marked his directing debut, also described Cruise’s continued concentration during filming. According to Lowe, Francis Ford Coppola requested that The Outsiders cast attend a Tulsa gym class to learn how to perform backflips, but only the Oblivion actor was able to pull it off:
“It’s hard as f**k to learn, and Tom was relentlessly competitive. He ended up being the only one who could do a backflip. It is in the movie The Outsiders for no reason. He runs out of the house and does a backflip for no reason, just to do it.”
The Outsiders was well received by critics, who mostly praised the performances, and it did well at the box office, earning $33.7 million on a $10 million budget.
Cruise will next be reprising his role in Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part Two, which is set to release on June 28, 2024.
You can stream The Outsiders on Max and DIRECTV.
