ENTERTAINMENTRob Lowe Reveals 'Nemesis' Tom Cruise Beat Him Out for Multiple Major Movie Roles
Rob Lowe recently opened up about losing out on a few film roles to Tom Cruise.
Sept. 6 2026, Published 3:15 p.m. ET
Rob Lowe was gunning for several big film roles that his fellow actor Tom Cruise beat him out for.
The St. Elmo's Fire alum, 62, recently recalled reading multiple scripts for high-profile movies such as Top Gun and Jerry Maguire, before learning Cruise, 64, scored the projects.
Rob Lowe noted he didn't get the lead parts in movies such as 'Top Gun' and 'Jerry Maguire.'
"That dastardly Tom Cruise was always a nemesis," Lowe told the New York Post on Saturday, September 5.
“I remember reading Jerry Maguire, and they were like, ‘Tom Cruise.’ I also remember reading Top Gun and going, ‘Oh, this movie is going to be f------ massive.’ They were like, ‘Tom Cruise,'" the former Brat Pack member said.
Rob Lowe Slammed the Rumor He Was in the Running for 'Ferris Bueller’s Day Off'
'That dastardly Tom Cruise was always a nemesis,' Rob Lowe joked.
Lowe also denied the rumor he was on the shortlist for the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which later went to Matthew Broderick.
“John Hughes never got what I was selling,” he noted of the late director who helmed classic teen '80s flicks such as The Breakfast Club and Weird Science.
“I met with John once and it’s not like he didn’t have a lot of parts I could have done. When you really look at it, there were more than a few parts, multiple parts in some movies. Never, phone never rang," The West Wing alum said.
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Rob Lowe Theorized Why He Never Appeared in John Hughes' Films
Rob Lowe starred in hit '80s films such as 'St. Elmo's Fire' and 'About Last Night.'
Lowe — who appeared in gritty hit '80s films like The Outsiders and Youngblood — also hypothesized why Hughes didn't pick him for his productions.
“I have a theory about it; I think I was actually already too well known,” the Oxford Blues actor admitted. “John put in people who [weren’t] already well known. He made people well known. At least that’s what I tell myself to make myself feel better for not getting a role in The Breakfast Club."
Rob Lowe Was Infamously a Member of the '80s Brat Pack
The Brat Pack was a name given to a group of actors that included Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson and Anthony Michael Hall.
Stars such as Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall shot to fame starring in Hughes' 1985 high school comedy The Breakfast Club.
Alongside the movie's cast, as well as Lowe and frequent costars Andrew McCarthy and Demi Moore, the group of young actors became known as the Brat Pack. The term became synonymous with the bunch after journalist David Blum penned a story about them for a 1985 New York magazine cover story.
The Pretty in Pretty filmmaker — who died in 2009 — often put members of this ragtag crew of adolescent starlets in his films.
Lowe previously expressed his disdain about the infamous moniker, telling People in 2024: "The article was horrible. It was a hit piece, there's no doubt about it. It was designed to belittle us, make us look small, with that journalistic trick of plausible deniability."
