For a lucky few, Hollywood is a family business, though that honor comes with its own set of qualms when famous parents face nepotism accusations over casting their children in roles. Rob Lowe and his son, John Owen, are no strangers to this conversation, having worked together on a handful of projects over the years. While the quintessential Brat Pack member has no issue working with his talented offspring, he would draw the line at casting him in a biopic of his life, and Owen has some thoughts about his dad’s casting choice.
Back in June, the father-son duo was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight when the 29-year-old asked his father who he’d cast to play the elder Lowe if the powers that be in Hollywood decided to give a biopic about his life a 2025 release date. Lowe didn’t need to think about the question and immediately threw out Zac Efron’s name before praising him for his work in A24’s The Iron Claw.
While another child star might have been upset to hear their father cast someone else in a role that they could have kept in the family, Owen took the hypothetical casting in stride and agreed with his father. The topic came up in conversation again recently when the Unstable co-stars were interviewed by watchmojo. This time around, the interviewer chose to direct the question at the actor/writer and asked why Lowe wouldn’t consider his own sole for the biopic role.
I think we both have enough respect for each other to know that my hat was never in the ring on that one. I think perhaps, politically, I will say ‘too close to home.’
There are many reasons why Lowe and Owen want to distance themselves from a hypothetical biopic about the 9-1-1: Lone Star lead’s life. For one, it would definitely bring up the dreaded nepotism argument again. There’s also the simple fact that actors in biopics often get a tremendous wave of hate for their depictions of beloved subjects. Perhaps, in fictitiously casting Efron, Lowe was saving his son from that same sort of backlash.
Like the pro he is, Owen took the interview question in stride and even added his own humorous take on the casting by saying his dad would be the one who would benefit from the Efron casting and not the other way around.
Zac Efron would crush it. I think Rob would be honored for Zac. I think he might have to lose a lot of muscle weight before he could play Rob. I think he would do a good job.
While Efron definitely has the acting chops to handle another biopic, it’s unlikely his phone will be ringing anytime soon for this particular gig, since there isn’t a Lowe film in the works, as far as we know. As unfortunate as that is, fans can still get their fix by tuning into 9-1-1: Lone Star when it returns to the 2024 TV Schedule in September for its fifth and potentially final season.
Fans can also check out Lowe and Owen as the fictional father-son duo in the streaming comedy Unstable. The first season is available to stream on the service with a Netflix subscription, and the second season is on the way.