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Rob Lowe says Taylor Swift's fame is so much more intense than his '80s heyday: 'It's what I went through on gazillion steroids'
Rob Lowe has some perspective on what Taylor Swift is going through right now.
In the 1980s he was so famous — and had so many fans trying to gain access to him through any means necessary — that he had to be driven to and from the set of St. Elmo's Fire in a police car.
'It's the kind of stuff you look back on and go, did that really happen?' Lowe, 60, told People for this week's cover story. 'The stories I have are mental, they're nuts.'
He said that today, the kind of fame he experience is being lived by Justin Bieber, Swift and Austin Butler, though it's even more intense for them.
When considering Taylor's current fame, the St. Elmo's Fire star - who said it was a 'nightmare' acting with son John Owen – said: 'I watch that, and it's what I went through on gazillion steroids.'
Rob Lowe has some perspective on what Taylor Swift is going through right now
Lowe made his feature film debut at age 19 in 1983's The Outsiders and followed that up with St. Elmo's Fire.
Ultimately, the attention drove the Parks And Recreation actor into rehab, and today he is 34 years sober.
'I was intuitive enough in those days to sense the disconnect between me, who I was, the work I was doing, that was out there in the public and making this phenomenon, the hysteria, happen.'
The Youngblood star's turning point with alcohol came in 1990 when he ignored his mother's call after his grandfather suffered a heart attack.
'I remember like it was yesterday: My mom telling me [on the answering machine] to 'pick up, pick up' because my grandpa had had a heart attack.
'I couldn't deal with it in the state I was in, and I needed to go to sleep to wake up so I could deal with it,' he told People, saying he immediately turned to tequila.
'Who doesn't keep a bottle of [Jose] Cuervo Gold by their bedside table? That was the final wake-up call. I've been sober ever since.'
By that point, Lowe's sex tape involving a 16-year-old girl in Atlanta during the 1988 Democratic National Convention had leaked, causing damage to his image and requiring him to do 20 hours of community service.
In the 1980s he was so famous — and had so many fans trying to gain access to him through any means necessary — that he had to be driven to and from the set of St. Elmo's Fire in a police car, Swift pictured in Lisbon in 2024
'It's the kind of stuff you look back on and go, did that really happen?' Lowe, 60, told People for this week's cover story. 'The stories I have are mental, they're nuts'; seen here in 1985
He said that today, the kind of fame he experience is being lived by Justin Bieber, Swift and Austin Butler, though it's even more intense for them; pictured in 1985
When considering Taylor's current fame, the St. Elmo's Fire star said: 'I watch that, and it's what I went through on gazillion steroids'; pictured at Spago in West Hollywood in 1985
Lowe made his feature film debut at age 19 in 1983's The Outsiders and followed that up with St. Elmo's Fire; pictured in May 2024
'[The fallout] definitely changed my life at the time, and, in hindsight, I realized it was another step that led me to recovery and reevaluating my life,' he told People.
'But the thing that really changed me was not being able to show up for my family and myself.'
And he realized that he couldn't get sober because he'd screwed up. He had to do it because he was ready. And he was.
'It was relieving, and it was scary, [but] I learned the tools to change your life if you have the self-honesty to do it,' he said. 'I felt, "Oh, okay, I'm not alone. I'm not crazy."'