Even when he was just starting out, Tom Cruise was way too good to be splitting a hotel room. At least according to Rob Lowe, who shared a living space with Cruise while they auditioned for the 1983 coming-of-age classic, The Outsiders.
Though this happened 37 years ago, Lowe made the revelation during a recent appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast.
“All of the (Los Angeles) people survived the L.A. auditions, and then the handpicked people had to go to New York to face the New York version,” Lowe said this past Monday. “So, it was me and Tom Cruise and Emilio and (C. Thomas Howell). First time I ever stayed at The Plaza Hotel. We check in and Tom finds out that we’re sharing a room, and just goes ballistic."
Lowe made a quip about how this was Cruise knowing his value at a young age.
"To me, what’s great about the story is, there’s certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today and the rest is history," Lowe added. "And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in 'Endless Love' and like a seventh lead in 'Taps' could have that kind of like wherewithal."
In addition to the behavior that would give him an early edge on how to behave as an A-lister, Lowe also marveled at Cruise's competitive nature with an anecdote about how director Francis Ford Coppola asked the young cast to perfect doing backflips. No one got it down but Cruise.
“It’s hard as fuck to learn, and Tom was relentlessly competitive,” Lowe continued. “He ended up being the only one who could do a backflip. It is in (The Outsiders) for no reason. He runs out of the house and does a backflip for no reason, just to do it.”
Cue that scene. Thanks YouTube:
Working with Cruise, even at that young of an age, impressed Lowe despite the miniature freak-out over room assignments. "I remember going, 'Wow, this guy is the real deal,'" Lowe said. "I mean it made me laugh, it was gnarly. But in the end of it, you can't argue with the results. He’s had his eye on the ball since day one."
The Outsiders, based on an S.E. Hinton novel about a wayward gang of Tulsa teens, was noted for its cast of up-and-comers, including Cruise, Lowe, plus Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, and Matt Dillon.
The film was made before that group had serious box office pull (and salaries) and made a reported $33.7 million off a $10 million budget.
As for what Cruise has going on next, that would be Top Gun: Maverick. That's coming out on December 23, 2020 after being pushed from this summer.
