Rob Lowe’s first movie, The Outsiders, is about to become a musical — and he’s looking forward to checking it out.
“I am sure at some point I’ll see it,” Lowe, 59, exclusively told Us Weekly at DIRECTV’s Streaming With the Stars Oscars viewing party at Spago in Beverly Hills on Sunday, March 10. “It’s amazing that they’re doing that. I mean, it makes perfect sense. I hope it’s great. It should be great.”
“And stay gold!” Lowe added, referencing a line from the 1983 film and the 1967 novel of the same name.
Lowe, who played Sodapop Curtis in the movie, was 18 when filming began in 1982. He had appeared in a few TV roles, but The Outsiders marked his first time on the big screen. The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, also starred Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise.
“We were all just learning, we were all so young,” Lowe told Us on Sunday. “I mean, it was my first movie. I thought all movies were shot like Francis Ford Coppola shoots a movie, and it turns out, nope.”
He added that the thing he remembers the most about the project is “the camaraderie” on set. “That, to me, was the equivalent of my fraternity,” he recalled.
The musical, which begins previews on Broadway on March 16, features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine and music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival and Levine. Actor Jason Schmidt will make his Broadway debut as Lowe’s character, Sodapop.
The Outsiders also kicked off Lowe’s membership in the Brat Pack alongside Estevez, now 61, Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald and more. Throughout the 2024 awards season, Lowe was happy to cheer on fellow Brat Pack member Robert Downey Jr., who took home his first Oscar on Sunday for his role in Oppenheimer.
“Gotta get my Santa Monica High School history class classmate Robert Downey Jr., got to have him get some long-overdue awards,” Lowe told Us. “And that’s a big movie. It’s the kind of movie we should be making more of, ginormous in the zeitgeist. Everybody sees it. Everybody knows that, and it’s getting awards.”
Lowe added that he suspects Downey Jr., 58, and his fellow nominees are thrilled that they can finally take a break from red carpets now that the Oscars are over.
“It has become such a long award season,” Lowe explained. “They all crawl to the finish line. I think as much as everybody wants to win, a lot, I think they are all really looking forward to not putting on a tuxedo every fourth day.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams
