Rob Lowe opens up about why Hollywood keeps losing productions — and recalls a hilariously petty awards-show moment that still bugs him.
Hollywood loves drama, but Rob Lowe isn’t talking about what happens on screen. Instead, the actor is sounding the alarm about what he sees as a slow erosion of Los Angeles’ place as the heart of film and television — and he’s not holding back.
Speaking while promoting his new indie comedy The Musical, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival, Lowe called it “criminal” that so much filming has left L.A. for cheaper cities and countries. While he admits things are improving, he believes the fix is still incomplete.
At the center of the problem, Lowe says, are tax incentives — specifically who benefits from them. Other states and countries offer credits that cover “above-the-line” costs, like salaries for actors, writers, directors, and producers. California, he notes, largely does not.
“Until L.A. changes that,” Lowe said, “they’re never going to get the big shows back.”
Ironically, Lowe was recently able to stay in Los Angeles thanks to newer tax incentives aimed at independent films. That made The Musical possible without relocating production — a rare win in today’s industry landscape.
Directed by Giselle Bonilla and written by Alexander Heller, the offbeat comedy follows a bitter middle school teacher who channels his heartbreak into staging an outrageously inappropriate school musical.
Lowe plays the school’s principal, who just happens to be dating the teacher’s ex-girlfriend. Think School of Rock energy — but with darker, stranger edges.
The cast leaned into the chaos, including working with child actors, something Hollywood traditionally avoids. For Lowe, it was personal. Like many in the film, he was once a child performer himself.
“We all remember not getting the role we wanted,” Lowe said, laughing. “I never made it out of the chorus.”
That mix of humor and honesty carried over when the group reflected on the film’s theme of spite — and the pettiest moments they’ve experienced in real life.
Lowe shared one story that still annoys him years later: accepting an award while another actor behind him tried to steal attention by joking around with a co-star during his speech.
“There’s no group pettier than actors,” Lowe joked.
Fans quickly connected the dots to a now-infamous 2002 SAG Awards moment involving The West Wing cast — though Lowe didn’t name names.
Bonilla, meanwhile, admitted that spite once changed her life for the better. After being cheated on in high school, she applied to NYU film school out of pure motivation — and got in.
“Spite,” she said, “can be very productive.”
What do you think — should Hollywood do more to keep filming in L.A., or is the industry’s shift inevitable? Share your thoughts.
PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Lowe/Instagram
