Rob Lowe Reveals His ’80s ‘Dastardly’ Nemesis Who Got the Roles He Auditioned For

Hollywood’s Brat Pack era produced no shortage of friendly rivalries among its rising stars, with a handful of young actors constantly competing for the same breakout material throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Few of those actors built quite as enduring a career as Rob Lowe, whose early success in films like ‘The Outsiders’ and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ established him as one of the era’s defining leading men.

That early success came alongside plenty of near-misses, though, with Lowe frequently finding himself in contention for roles that ultimately went to other rising stars of the same generation. Given how competitive casting could get during that stretch of Hollywood history, it’s perhaps unsurprising that one particular actor kept crossing paths with Lowe at the worst possible moments.

That actor is Tom Cruise, and Lowe has now revealed just how often his former co-star ended up landing roles Lowe himself had his eye on. Speaking to the New York Post, Lowe named Cruise as his playful “dastardly” nemesis throughout the decades, recalling how the actor repeatedly beat him out for two massive blockbuster roles.

“That dastardly Tom Cruise was always a nemesis,” Lowe said, according to the New York Post, before detailing exactly which films he’d hoped to land before Cruise ultimately claimed the parts instead.

Lowe specifically pointed to ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Top Gun’ as the two films where Cruise repeatedly beat him to the punch. He recalled reading the script for ‘Jerry Maguire’ and immediately being told the role had already gone to Cruise, a pattern he says played out similarly years earlier when he read the script for ‘Top Gun’ and instantly recognized its blockbuster potential, only to again be told Cruise had already been cast.

That rivalry carries an added layer of history given that Lowe and Cruise actually shared the screen together decades earlier, appearing alongside each other in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 coming-of-age classic ‘The Outsiders.’ That film also featured a remarkably stacked young ensemble that included Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze and Ralph Macchio, giving audiences an early glimpse of several future A-list stars sharing screen time together before their careers diverged in wildly different directions.

Despite losing out on those two particular roles, Lowe went on to build a substantial career of his own, headlining films like ‘St. Elmo’s Fire,’ ‘Youngblood’ and ‘About Last Night’ throughout the same era. Still, watching Cruise repeatedly capture two of the biggest commercial franchises of the following decades has clearly remained a memorable footnote in Lowe’s own recollection of his career trajectory.

Beyond his comments about Cruise, Lowe also used the opportunity to address a long-circulating rumor about another iconic 1980s role. He clarified that reports suggesting he’d once been considered for the lead in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ the role that ultimately went to Matthew Broderick, simply weren’t accurate.

Lowe explained that director John Hughes never seriously considered him for any of his classic teen films, offering his own theory as to why. He suggested that by the time Hughes was casting those projects, he may have already been too well-established as a star, with Hughes reportedly preferring to build up lesser-known actors into new stars rather than casting names audiences already recognized.

That self-aware framing gave Lowe a lighthearted way to make peace with missing out on one of the era’s most beloved comedies, even as he continued reflecting candidly on the string of near-misses that defined parts of his early career. Lowe’s comments arrive as he continues promoting his upcoming film ‘The Musical,’ set for release September 18.

Given how much affection fans still hold for the ensemble casts that defined 1980s Hollywood, Lowe’s candid trip down memory lane offers a fun reminder of just how many future stars were competing for the same handful of star-making roles during that era. Whether Cruise ever responds to being playfully called out as Lowe’s decades-long nemesis remains to be seen.

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