Rob Lowe on Fame "What's the Point of Being Famous Today?"

But we're almost dead, let's be honest. I mean, how much time we got left? If everything goes great? No, no, we're gonna live forever. We're gonna have that pill that's gonna be announced next week. That might be the worst thing that could happen. Like you might want to go quietly in your sleep rather than live for 500 years and see the horrors that humanity turns into. That too. And I don't want to like if my body breaks down. I'm so physical. I love doing my stuff. I don't think I'd be one of those people like, you know what? His mind is so sharp though. It's like, well, fuck, that's great. Meanwhile, I can't fucking walk. Yeah. You can't, you know, it's like I want to be able to do my thang. Yes, yes. I mean, I want a sharp mind. Let's stipulate that. But what do you do to maintain yourself? What do you do to keep the machine working? Well, the number one thing was, you know, I stopped drinking years and years and years ago. How many years? 30. Oh, so you got way ahead of the game. Way ahead. So I don't do any of that. Wow. That's a lot of discipline. But it's not though, because the minute you realize your discipline has nothing to do with it, that's the only way you can do it. Okay. Because the whole point is like, I can't. If I had one, let's say you broke out that because I was like beer. Beer was good. Well, there it is. What do you got there? Whiskey. Whiskey was never my thing. I'd be okay. If it were tequila, that'd be a different thing. If you, and also it was the 80s. So if you had a Kamikaze, remember those drinks? Yeah, I do remember those. Like it would go, then I'd be like, you know what? It would be really good to get, would be some coke. That would be great. To bounce it out. Yeah, you just bounce out and you know that. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. It's good for you. It's good for the rock star coke. That's tough. That's what I'm saying. It's not even bad for you. Mick Jagger does it. Okay. Look at Keith Richards. He's fine. Look at Keith Richards. Look at Jack Nicholson. Look at their do it. They're the biggest stars in the world. Jack Nicholson is fat too. How bad could it be? How bad could it be? It's good for your memory. Probably. And it's really good if you want to talk a lot. And successful people do it. A lot of successful people do it. And it's not addicting. Oh no. They just enjoy it. Yes. So that was what we thought. You know, that's what, you know, that's just the Gordon Gekko era. And then the hounds of hell will be released. Once I got that good little concoction going, that good little mixy mixer-son. Well, it had to be hard to be a young, really famous, really good looking guy during the age of no internet. And you know, the world was a wild place. I mean, you were really famous in the 80s. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean, you know, all of it, look, all the mistakes that I made, all the things that I learned got me to where I am today and I could not be happier. And I needed some fucking comeuppance and I needed some of that humbling and stuff. On the other side of it is like, what's the point of being fucking famous today? Really? I don't know if there's a point. So dangerous. I know, right? I don't know. I mean, forget the lack of privacy, the lack of like crazy fun, which you can't have. Right. Everybody's lying in wait. I saw an article written about Leonardo DiCaprio and it was just about how he dates young girls and how gross it is that he's dating a girl who's 25. Like 25 is a woman, you fuck. Like, what is wrong? He's a good looking man. He's wealthy and happy and successful. Oh my God, he dates someone who's young and vibrant. There must be something wrong with him. Meanwhile, if a woman does it, nobody gives a shit. They celebrate her. You go, Kate Beckinsdale. You go take those 21 year olds down. That's right. Rope them, wrangle them, ride them, and then send them off, kick them in the ass and pack their lunch and send them off. It should be equal opportunity everywhere. That's not though. When it's a woman, they look at it like she's just doing her thing. She's having a good time. It's a man. It's like he's abusing his power. Leonardo has power over those young ladies. I figure if you're Leo or Bieber or any of those young ... This is part of the coming of age. Yes. It's figuring out what you want in life. When you do that, you're going to do weird shit, good shit, bad shit. Well, if anybody would try to judge someone like that, like Bieber in particular, because he was really, really young when he got famous. It's insane. You know that whole theory that however old you are when you get famous, that freezes you in carbonite emotionally and intellectually. Well, that makes sense with child stars, right? Anybody. Yes, but anyway, it's also that thing of ... If you ever noticed that before you get famous, the people who were famous to you then, fast forward 100 years or whatever, and maybe they haven't done as much and you have, but when you meet them, you think they're the most famous, crazy, successful person. It's the same type of thing. If I were to meet Dr. Smith from Lost in Space, I'd be like, no fucking way, doctors. Do you know what I mean? It's funny how time ... I met Lee Majors. I was in my glory. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, that's a $6 million man. I can't believe it. He's real. Right? Yeah. Cheech and Chong when I met those guys, I was like, I can't believe they're real. I can't believe I'm meeting them. Yeah. You get frozen in your own perspective. Well, when you get older and you become famous ... Very few people can have this conversation, right? But when you get famous and you meet famous people, to me it's still weird. When I met you today, I was like, hello, Rob Lowe. I've seen you in movies, but I'm more normal with it than when I was young. When I was young and I would meet ... I remember the first time I was on the set of News Radio and I met Phil Hartman. I was so weirded out. I was like, he's right there. This is crazy. I hadn't met a lot of famous people back then, only a small handful.