Unlike many of the show's fans, Rob Lowe does not have the fondest of memories from his time on The West Wing. After starring on the series for its first four seasons, Lowe described things behind the scenes of The West Wing as "unhealthy" and said leaving the show "was the best thing I ever did."
These comments came from an appearance Lowe had on an episode of the Podcrushed podcast.
The West Wing is a beloved TV drama, so much show that What to Watch ranked it as the fourth best TV show of all time. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the series followed the administration of President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as they dealt with the day-to-day challenges of working in the White House. Lowe played the character Sam Seaborn, the White House communications director.
Lowe did not get into details about his experiences working on The West Wing, which he explains by saying:
"They would make your hair stand up… I shared some of them in my book, but I purposefully didn't share half of the other ones because it would make the people involved look so bad that I didn't want to do it to them."
Lowe said he sees similarities in his time on The West Wing to his children being unhealthy relationship as teenagers, with people thinking just because something is popular that it must be great to be involved with.
"I walked away from the most popular girl at school, but I also knew that it was a super unhealthy relationship, and it was the best thing I ever did."
The West Wing wrote Lowe's character out of the show after season 4. There are rumors of a salary dispute between the actor and the production. During the podcast Lowe said that he felt "undervalued" on the series.
He would return to reprise the role of Sam Seaborn for two episodes during The West Wing's final season as well as appearing in The West Wing reunion special that aired on HBO in 2020.
After The West Wing, Lowe went on to star in another beloved series, Parks & Recreation, as well as Brothers & Sisters, The Grinder and Code Black. He currently stars in 9-1-1: Lone Star, which is slated to return with 9-1-1: Lone Star season 5 at some point after the ongoing writers and actors' strikes are resolved.
