Rob Lowe has come a long way from his young and wild days. The actor has practiced a sober lifestyle for decades, and it all came when he hit rock bottom.
"Getting sober was an incremental decision," he told People. "It's baby steps until you're ready. You can't do it until you're really ready."
One low moment came when Lowe's sex tape went public. The tape showed him hooking up with two women at the Democratic National Convention. The actor faced instant backlash. "[The fallout] definitely changed my life at the time, and, in hindsight, I realized it was another step that led me to recovery and reevaluating my life," he says. "But the thing that really changed me was not being able to show up for my family and myself."
However, that wasn't Lowe's lowest moment. No, that came in 1990 when his grandfather had a heart attack. The actor wasn't there for his family and ignored a frantic call from his own mom. He said that he couldn't face it.
Rob Lowe Talks Getting Sober
"I remember like it was yesterday: My mom telling me [on the answering machine] to 'pick up, pick up' because my grandpa had had a heart attack. I couldn't deal with it in the state I was in, and I needed to go to sleep to wake up so I could deal with it," Lowe said he immediately started drinking.
He said, "Who doesn't keep a bottle of Cuervo Gold by their bedside table? That was the final wake-up call. I've been sober ever since." After that, Lowe realized that he was ready to get clean. So, he checked himself into rehab."It was relieving, and it was scary, [but] I learned the tools to change your life if you have the self-honesty to do it," he says. "I felt, 'Oh, okay, I'm not alone. I'm not crazy'."
As far as getting sober, Lowe said it's ultimately up to the person
"I didn't have any doubts [and] I wasn't like, well, maybe I'll be sober for a little bit," he says. Instead, he just knew he was done. "I always tell people: you can't get sober... I don't care if it's fentanyl, booze, drugs, coke, pot, gambling, overeating, sex addiction, whatever, you cannot stop for your job, your wife, your family, your parole officer, because you screwed something up."
Lowe said, "You only are going to stop when you're ready, period."
