Rob Lowe Reveals the Dastardly Star Who Beat Him to Some Iconic 80s and 90s Movie Roles

Rob Lowe has named the major star who kept landing roles that caught his attention during the ’80s and ’90s.

Speaking to The Post, the Brat Pack actor pointed directly to Tom Cruise as the formidable figure who repeatedly surfaced when Lowe was reading promising scripts.

Lowe, 62, described Cruise in playfully dramatic terms while looking back at the parts that got away. “That dastardly Tom Cruise was always a nemesis.”

One of those memories involved “Jerry Maguire,” a movie Lowe recalled reading before Cruise ultimately took the central role.

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“I remember reading ‘Jerry Maguire’ . . . and they were like, ‘Tom Cruise.’”

Lowe had a similar experience with “Top Gun,” which immediately struck him as a movie destined to become massive.

Once again, the response he received was that Cruise would be the star attached to the project.

The actor also cleared up a separate rumor involving the lead role in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which ultimately went to Matthew Broderick.

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Lowe said he was not actually under consideration for the 1986 comedy, though he wishes that had been different.

When asked about the missed opportunity, Lowe answered, “No, that’s a big regret,” before explaining that director John Hughes never showed interest in casting him.

“John Hughes never got what I was selling,” Lowe said of the late filmmaker.

Hughes was behind ’80s classics including “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles,” both of which featured roles Lowe believed he could have played.

Lowe said he met with Hughes once, but the filmmaker never called him about any of the available parts.

Looking back, Lowe believes his existing level of fame might explain why Hughes did not consider him.

“I have a theory about it; I think I was actually already too well known,” he said.

His explanation centered on Hughes choosing performers who had not yet become widely known and then turning them into recognizable stars.

Lowe admitted that this is at least what he tells himself to feel better about never receiving a role in “The Breakfast Club.”

Lowe had already secured his breakthrough role at 18 in 1983’s “The Outsiders.”

He later starred in movies including “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Youngblood” and “About Last Night,” building a film career while some of the other coveted roles went elsewhere.

His latest movie, “The Musical,” is out Sept. 18 and places him in a school setting.

Lowe plays a middle school principal who begins a budding romance with a teacher, creating a situation that sends another instructor spiraling out of control.

That instructor had previously dated the teacher before Lowe’s principal became romantically involved with her.

The developing relationship therefore becomes the catalyst for the instructor’s increasingly uncontrolled response in the movie.

Lowe also reflected on his own school experience after his family moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Malibu, Calif.

He said he became “an outcast” when he transferred to Lincoln Junior High School and found himself surrounded by students with very different priorities.

“I was surrounded by kids who showed up an hour late with sand in their hair because they’d been out surfing,” Lowe said.

His approach to school made him stand out even more among his new classmates.

Lowe said the other students looked down on him because he sat in the front row and regularly raised his hand.

“So, I was an outcast because I had the audacity to be at school to learn.”

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