The best Rob Lowe movies and TV shows stretch back to coming-of-age stories from the 1980s and include some critically acclaimed TV shows over the last few decades. Lowe actually got his first acting role in 1976, when he was 12, and by the 1980s, he was starring in some of Hollywood's biggest young adult movies. Quickly, Lowe made friends and became part of the infamous Brat Pack of the 80s, following roles in films like The Outsiders and St. Elmo's Fire. However, his career hit a small roadblock thanks to some real-life controversies.

When Lowe began to rebound as an adult actor, it was mostly in comedy movies like Wayne's World and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. However, Lowe then found a new lease on his career when he started working more on television. He got a big role in the political drama series The West Wing, the comedy sitcom Parks and Recreation, and finally got his big starring role as one of the lead characters in the Fox first responder series 9-1-1: Lone Star.

10 Bad Influence (1990)

Alex

In 1990. Rob Lowe took on one of his rare villain roles with the psychological thriller Bad Influence​​​. The film stars James Spader as Michael Boll, an awkward young man who lets people walk all over him. However, one day, he meets a charismatic man named Alex (Rob Lowe), who helps him come out of his shell. However, Alex also convinces Michael to start breaking laws and living a life of hedonism. Once Michael goes too far, he realizes that he has to stop Alex, or he could destroy his life.

While this is Spader's movie, Lowe was great as the antagonist who used his charm and charisma to destroy everyone around him. The film received mixed to positive reviews, but the biggest problem with the movie was that it was released around the time Lowe's videotape scandal happened, which overshadowed its release. With that said, both Rob Lowe and director Curtis Hanson have said they are proud of the movie, and it might deserve a second look decades after its release.

9 The Stand (1994)

Nick Andros

Rob Lowe was part of an all-star cast in the Stephen King television miniseries adaptation of The Stand. The story remains one of the best books Stephen King has ever written, following the aftermath of the superflu that wiped out almost all of humanity. Society split into the good and the bad, and Rob Lowe starred as someone in the camp of the good named Nick Andros. Nick was one of the main heroes alongside Gary Siniese's Stu Redman and Molly Ringwald's Frannie Goldsmith.

The miniseries aired on ABC, so it had to leave out a lot of the more horrific moments from King's masterpiece. It lasted four episodes and ended up nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards for its run, including a nomination for Outstanding Miniseries. While it only won technical achievement awards, the series remains fondly ed by King fans, especially those who didn't care for the adaptation that arrived in 2020.

8 About Last Night (1986)

Danny Martin

Directed by Edward Zwick, Rob Lowe was part of the romantic comedy-drama film About Last Night in 1986. The story follows two Chicago yuppies who get involved in a relationship with each other, the first time either of them has been in a committed one. Lowe is one of these people; Danny Martin and Demi Moore star as the woman, Debbie Sullivan. The cast also includes James Belushi as Danny's friend Bernie, and it also features the big-screen debuts of Catherine Keener and Elizabeth Perkins.

Roger Ebert said that About Last Night offered Rob Lowe and Demi Moore the best acting opportunities either of them have ever had.

Based on the David Mamet stage play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, the movie was remade 27 years later with an all-Black cast, but the original remains a beloved classic movie from the 80s. In his review of the film, Roger Ebert said that About Last Night offered Rob Lowe and Demi Moore the best acting opportunities either of them have ever had. Add in an incredible soundtrack with John Waite, Bob Seger, and John Oates, and this is a movie that was a huge fan favorite at the time.

7 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020-)

Capt. Owen Strand

The biggest television role that Rob Lowe ever had came in the Fox first responder series 9-1-1: Lone Star. A spinoff of the series 9-1-1, this series moves the action from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, and shows the 9-1-1 operators, firefighters, paramedics, and police who help save lives in the Texas capitol. Rob Lowe has the main lead role in the series, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear. Lowe played firefighter Owen Strand, who moved to Austin from New York and had to adjust.

The series lasted for five seasons, with the final episode coming in February 2025. Critics awarded the series mostly positive reviews, and while the ratings dropped throughout its five-season run, it was usually a popular show for fans of the genre. It also won a GLAAD Media Award in 2023 for Outstanding Drama Series, with three total nominations. While fans loved the series, the cast didn't receive much praise, although Rob Lowe shined in his role as the main lead of the series.

6 Wayne’s World (1992)

Benjamin Kane

In 1992, Rob Lowe moved into smaller ing roles in broad comedies. The biggest role for Lowe in 1992 came in Wayne's World​​​​​, a comedy based on the Saturday Night Live sketch starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. The original sketches had the two playing Wayne and Garth, two slacker friends who ran a public access TV show out of their basement and often had interviews where they mostly had no idea what was going on. This translated over to the movie.

In Wayne's World, Wayne (Myers) develops a crush on the lead singer of a rock band named Cassandra (Tia Carrere). However, he also has to survive a coordinated attack by Rob Lowe's Benjamin Kane, a sleazy Chicago television producer who poses a threat to Wayne and Garth's television show. The movie has become a cult classic, spawned a sequel, and even received four nominations in the American Film Institute's "100 Years..." award series.

5 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Young Number Two

In 1999, Rob Lowe ed another Mike Myers comedy franchise when he showed up in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. In the first movie, Myers' Dr. Evil had a henchman known as Number Two, played by Robert Wagner. In this movie, Dr. Evil time travels back to the 1960s to steal Austin Powers' mojo and that is when fans see the younger Number Two, now played by Rob Lowe. It was a fun performance, as Lowe was clearly channeling Wagner here and did a good job of mimicking the veteran actor.

This second Austin Powers movie took what worked in the first film and added as many ridiculous situations as possible to add to the humor. Mike Myers introduced Fat Bastard in this movie and the ing cast included great turns from everyone from Seth Green as Scott Evil and Verne Troyer as Mini-Me to Heather Graham as Felicity Shagwell and Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissina. There was one more movie that followed this one before the franchise came to a close.

4 St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

Billy Hicks

When Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire came out in 1985, it was like a sister movie to John Hughes' The Breakfast Club. While Hughes's movie showed of the Brat Pack in a high school setting, St. Elmo's Fire showed them in a post-college setting. The story revolves around friends trying to find their way in the world after graduating college. The film stars several Brat Packers, including Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andie MacDowell, and Mare Winningham.

The movie was bashed by critics when it came out, but people still swarmed to the theaters to see it, giving Joey Schumacher his first major hit movie. Rob Lowe plays Billy Hicks, a frat boy and saxophonist who ends up as a reluctant husband and father after college. While critics hated it, and Rob Lowe even received a Razzie Award for Worst ing Actor, it has remained a favorite for many fans who grew up in the 80s, and specifically for those who saw the movie when they were of a certain age.

3 The Outsiders (1983)

Sodapop Curtis

Known as the first Brat Pack movie, The Outsiders tells S.E. Hinton's story of two rival gangs of white kids in Tulsa, Oklahoma, separated by socioeconomic classes. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the cast is a who's-who of young actors of that era, including Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Diane Lane, and Rob Lowe in his first feature film role. The main characters are the Curtis brothers, with older brother Darry (Swayze) left to raise his younger brothers, Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Sodapop (Lowe).

The film also received four Young Artists Awards nominations for the cast.

Lowe was only 19 when he appeared in the film, but he played a younger character, one whose innocence showed through the violence surrounding his brothers and their friends. The Outsiders received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise going to the young cast and the unique (at that time) choice to show poor and downtrodden teens with more realistic dialogue and neglected family units. The film also received four Young Artists Awards nominations for the cast.

2 Parks And Recreation (2010-2015)

Chris Traeger

After the success of the mockumentary series The Office, NBC created a similar show in 2009 called Parks and Recreation. Instead of focusing on office workers, this series focused on government workers and the people involved in keeping up the Parks Department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The main star of it all is Amy Poehler, who plays Leslie Knope, a perky mid-level bureaucrat who runs the department.

Lowe received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2011 for his performance.

The people working for her made the show brilliant, with names like Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Scott, and more. Rob Lowe ed the cast in the second season and became a main cast member in the third, when the show really took off. He stars as Chris Traeger, a former auditor who becomes the Pawnee City Manager. Critics praised Lowe in Parks and Recreation, calling it one of the "funniest performances" of his entire career. Lowe received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2011 for his performance.

1 The West Wing (1999-2003)

Sam Seaborn

It seemed like Rob Lowe would never reach the level his talent hinted at, thanks to his videotape scandal of the late 1980s. He ended up in minor comedic movie roles and was mostly relegated to small movies and TV show appearances. However, that all changed when he signed on for a main role in the Aaron Sorkin political drama series The West Wing. The NBC series followed the White House staff as they operated during the presidential term of Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet.

Rob Lowe played one of the main characters in the early seasons of the series. Low was Sam Seaborn, the deputy communications director, and was the man responsible for writing most of the president's speeches. Lowe played this role for the first four seasons before he mostly disappeared after Season 4, only to finally return as a guest appearance in the final seventh season. Lowe earned two Golden Globe and one Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his performance on The West Wing