Rob Lowe shocked many fans when he left NBC hit series The West Wing after four seasons at the peak of its popularity, and now the actor opens up about why he made the decision.
Lowe, 59, played Assistant White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn, and he was credited with leading the series when it first aired in 1999.
However, the immense popularity of the series ultimately led to the network tinkering extensively with the series, resulting in major changes to Seaborn’s character.
This ultimately resulted in Lowe leaving the series after season four, while series creator Aaron Sorkin and director/executive producer Thomas Schleich left the series shortly thereafter, and the series ran for three more seasons through 2007.
Lowe appeared on Stitcher’s Podcrushed podcast last week, where he said leaving the show was “the best thing I’ve ever done” and likened his time on the show to a “super unhealthy relationship.”
Rob speaks: Rob Lowe shocked many fans when he left NBC hit series The West Wing after four seasons at the peak of its popularity, and now the actor opens up about why he made the decision
Rob as Sam: Lowe, 59, played Assistant White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn, and he was credited as the main protagonist of the series when it first aired in 1999
“I felt very undervalued. It happens in every workplace. “You can find yourself in an environment where people dump you, want to see you fail, don’t appreciate you — whatever it is,” Lowe admitted.
“Whenever I tell my stories, people say, ‘I’m never going to tell my own stories again,’ because that would make your hair stand on end,” Lowe teased.
The actor released a memoir titled “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” in which he shared some stories from his time on The West Wing…though he admitted he left some out.
“Half of the others I intentionally didn’t share because that would make the people involved look so bad that I didn’t want to do that to them,” he said.
“I didn’t have a good experience and I tried and tried to make it work and tried to make it work,” Lowe explained.
He revealed the straw that broke the camel’s back wasn’t a specific incident, but rather had to do with his sons Matthew, 29, and John Owen, 27.
“What happened was that my kids got to a certain age where I could envision them having first girlfriends and being in a relationship that was abusive and enduring,” Lowe said, comparing the time at ” The West Wing” with dating the “popular girl”. at school.’
“Everybody loves her, she’s beautiful, it has to be great – everything people would say to me about The West Wing,” Lowe said.
Undervalued: “I felt very undervalued.” It happens in every workplace. “You can find yourself in an environment where people dump you, want to see you fail, don’t appreciate you — whatever it is,” Lowe admitted
Stories: “Whenever I share my stories, people say, ‘I’m never going to share my own stories again,’ because it would make your hair stand on end,” Lowe teased
Stories: The actor released his memoir, titled ‘Stories I Only Tell My Friends,’ in which he shared some stories from his time on The West Wing…though he admitted he left some out
Popular: “What happened was that my kids got to a certain age where I could imagine them having first girlfriends or boyfriends and being in a relationship that was abusive and sticking with it,” Lowe said, comparing the times at “The West Wing” with the appointment with “The West Wing”. “Popular Girl in School”
“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 explained.
“I broke up with the most popular girl in school, but I also knew it was a super unhealthy relationship and the best thing I’ve ever done,” he said, adding that he had “no regrets” about his decision .
Lowe added, “What people forget is the moment I left.” [creator] “Aaron Sorkin left and then it wasn’t The West Wing anymore.”
“It was ER in the White House, which is perfectly fine, but I don’t care,” he said, likely referring to John Wells, who took on the role of showrunner for Sorkin after spending a decade at ER.