“The best thing I’ve ever done”
Rob Lowe revealed that quitting Emmy-winning show The West Wing was the “best” thing he’s ever done.
Lowe, who played White House assistant communications director Sam Seaborn on the NBC political drama, said he felt “undervalued” during his four seasons on the show.
“Whenever I talk to actors who complain about their relationships on their shows, and sometimes it happens, it happens in any workplace, you can find yourself in an environment where people want to reject you, want to see you fail, you don’t appreciate anything.” That’s it,” Lowe told Podcrushed hosts Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari.
“And whenever I share my stories, people say, ‘I’m never going to share my own stories again.'”
Lowe likened the work environment to “every day we’re diving into the depths of the Titanic and worrying about a pressure rupture” and described the show’s creator, Aaron Sorkin, as “talented but also intense.”
“I didn’t have a good experience,” Lowe said, continuing, “I tried to make it work and I tried to make it work and I tried to make it work and then it happened, that my children would reach a certain age “where I could imagine them having their first girlfriends and being in a relationship that was abusive and abusive.”
In March 2003, with his children growing up as his children, Lowe finally plucked up the courage to leave the show.
According to a CNN announcementLowe had left the show because he was “disillusioned with the producers’ unwillingness to increase his $75,000-per-episode salary,” while series lead actor Martin Sheen was paid $300,000 per episode.
Lowe released a statement at the time saying his character no longer fit the show before returning for two episodes in the show’s final season.
He likened his departure to saying goodbye to “the most popular girl in school.”
“She’s the popular girl, everyone likes her, she’s beautiful, it must be amazing, all that’s what people would say to me about working on The West Wing. “It’s so popular, it’s so great, it has to be great,” but I know what it’s like. And if I couldn’t get away from it, how could I empower my kids to get away from it,” Lowe said during the interview.
“I knew it was a super unhealthy relationship, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
The West Wing revolved around Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet and ran for seven seasons from 1999 to 2006.
During its run, it received three Golden Globe Awards and 26 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Lowe’s acting career thrived after his stint on the show, appearing on shows like Brothers and Sisters, Parks and Recreation, Unstable, and The Simpsons.
