« 'The West Wing' Gets a 'Friend' | Main | Sorry Martin, President Bartlett would back this war »
March 14, 2003
Lowe's moving beyond politics with no regrets
'West Wing' recharged his career and now he's taking advantage of it
By ED BARK
The Dallas Morning News
03/14/2003
Sam Seaborn begone. Barely out of The West Wing loop, Rob Lowe quickly has a career-turning four weeks ahead of him.
In quick succession he'll:
• Begin work Friday on Lyons Den, a pilot for a potential new legal series on NBC next fall.
• Celebrate his 39th birthday on St. Patrick's Day.
• Co-star with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mike Myers in A View From the Top, a big-screen comedy opening next Friday.
• Head the cast of TNT cable's Framed, a cat-and-mouse crime movie premiering on April 13. In the same month he'll start filming TNT's Salem's Lot, a miniseries adapted from the Stephen King novel.
Mr. Lowe didn't grand-plan it this way. Framed, in fact, was made in 2001 before being temporarily shelved by a new batch of TNT executives who "put a moratorium on the previous regime's products," he said in a telephone interview Thursday.
"But it is sort of fun that just after my last West Wing episode you're going to get to see me with Gwyneth in a really sexy, frothy comedy, and then playing this working-class Long Island cop. ... I guess it would be nice if the net effect is that people see me in a new light. But I had a long, interesting career playing different people before The West Wing. And there's no reason to think I won't have a long, different career playing people after The West Wing."
His role as President Jeb Bartlet's deputy communications director put Mr. Lowe back in the majors after a string of post-Brat Pack bombs. But suddenly last summer, word came that the dissatisfied actor wanted out of The West Wing. He eventually signed on for the first 16 episodes this season. The last one aired on Feb. 26, with Sam Seaborn winning election to a California congressional seat. His White House replacement is already on board. Joshua Malina – who worked for West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin on his late, often great Sports Night series – is playing new deputy communications director Will Bailey.
"With so much stuff going on in my life right now, it makes more sense for me to talk about the future," Mr. Lowe said. "But if you're a West Wing fan, you know they weren't writing for Sam Seaborn anymore. What they had me doing in Seasons 3 and 4 didn't compare with what I did in Season 1 or 2. There were other things involved, but the bottom line is if I were creatively happy, I'd still be there."
Mr. Lowe said he expected a bigger sendoff in his fourth and final West Wing season. Instead, his character all but vanished before returning for two concluding episodes last month.
"It got a little confusing – and quite simply a little confusing to me – when the producers decided not to use me for the 16 episodes they did have me. But it was one of the greatest paid vacations I've ever had. I traveled the world and had a great time."
The pilot for Mr. Lowe's new NBC legal series is being produced by Brad Grey, whose company also has HBO's The Sopranos under its wing. But star James Gandolfini's ongoing contract dispute has led HBO to indefinitely postpone the scheduled March 24 startup of production on the show's fifth season. The two sides recently sued one another.
Mr. Lowe lionizes both Mr. Gandolfini and The Sopranos. But the two actors' disputes with management are worlds apart, he said.
"David Chase [the show's creator] continues to write great stuff for James Gandolfini. That was not my experience on The West Wing or I'd still be there. Other than that, I'm just as curious as you are as to how this will turn out, because The Sopranos is my favorite television show. I think James Gandolfini should win every best-actor award there is."
Posted by Jo at March 14, 2003 02:23 PM