Actor Has ‘No Regrets’ About Life as a Sober Family Man
By Movieguide® Contributor
At age 60, Rob Lowe is recalling favorite family memories and appreciating aspects of his life, including sobriety and being a father and a husband.
“I was doing WEST WING, and I’d volunteered to be ‘parent delegate’ on the school whale-watching trip — but we were shooting late, and I was literally missing the boat,” the father of Matthew, now 30, and John Owen, 28, told PEOPLE this month.
Lowe remembered that he sped up the Pacific Coast Highway and swam to the boat.
“I just remember them going, ‘There’s a man swimming…’ and Matthew going, ‘I think that’s my dad.’” Lowe said. “I swam with my sunglasses in my teeth.”
That’s one of Lowe’s family’s favorite memories.
Now at 60, the actor recalled having an epiphany after meeting his wife, Sheryl, who did his makeup on the set of 1990’s BAD INFLUENCE. At the time, Lowe struggled with addiction.
He realized, “If I couldn’t make it work with her, I couldn’t make it work with anybody.”
After several “wake-up calls,” he went to rehab in 1990.
“I was ready,” he said.
After a 33-year-long marriage to Sheryl, he says fatherhood is “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Movieguide® reported:
Lowe often speaks about his dedication to fatherhood and how things have changed now that his sons are adults.
“The beauty of fatherhood is that it changes. When you’re young, being a father puts you back in touch with your own inner child. You get to revisit your own childhood through your kids, to reclaim it,” he told PEOPLE. “You get to experience their wonder and awe, and all of those amazing things.”
Quickly after his eldest son was born, Lowe made the tough decision to move his family out of L.A.
“You have to be willing to make some sacrifices,” he said. “I moved my kids out of Los Angeles, immediately. I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for 20 years almost.”
Now, Lowe currently co-creates and co-stars with his son John Owen in the Netflix series UNSTABLE.
The ST. ELMO’S FIRE actor truly appreciates the life he’s lived and the life he has now, with “no regrets.”
“I mean, the notion of having such a long, great marriage, being sober 34 years, having two healthy, productive, amazing boys, going into my sixth decade, working at this level, I know how rare that is,” he says with earnest humility. “If I’d have gotten the wishes that I had wished for myself when I was younger, I would’ve sold myself short. I’m super grateful.”
Last year, Lowe said that marrying your best friend and forgiveness are two keys to a lasting marriage.
He said, “People say marriage takes work. I’m not sure if it takes work, but what it does take is forgiveness, and being really cognizant of what hill you’re willing to die on.”
