Rob Lowe has opened up about his choice to exit the Emmy-winning series The West Wing, calling it the “best thing” he ever did.
The 61-year-old actor appeared on the seven-season show for four seasons as Sam Seaborn, the deputy White House communications director, before ultimately choosing to leave in 2003.
During an appearance on Podcrushed with Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari, Rob acknowledged he felt “undervalued” throughout his time on the Emmy-winning political drama.
“Whenever I talk to actors who complain about their relationships on their shows, and sometimes it happens, it happens in any workplace, you can be in an environment where people sandbag you, want to see you fail, don’t appreciate you, whatever it is,” he began.
Rob went on: “And whenever I share my stories people are like, ‘I will never share my own stories again’.”
He drew a comparison between the show and “the popular girl”, explaining, “everybody likes her, she’s beautiful, it must be great, all the things that people would say about making ‘The West Wing’ to me. ‘It’s so popular, it’s so amazing, it must be amazing,’ but I know what it’s like.
“And if I couldn’t walk away from it, then how could I empower my kids to walk away from it?”I knew that it was a super unhealthy relationship, and it was the best thing I ever did.”
When he departed the series, CNN reported that his exit stemmed from frustration over producers’ refusal to increase his $75,000-per-episode pay.
By contrast, The West Wing’s leading man, Martin Sheen, earned $300,000 per episode.
Rob dismissed these reports, subsequently clarifying in a public statement that his character no longer aligned with the show’s narrative direction.
