Rob Lowe first appeared in the American sitcom ‘A New Kind of Family’ in 1979. He played the role of ‘Tony Flanagan’ and remained a part of the show until it went off-air in 1980. He went on to make his big-screen debut in the 1983 American coming-of-age drama film ‘The Outsiders’ directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film opened to a positive reception and grossed over $33.7 million on a budget of $10 million. The same year, he also starred as ‘Skip’ in the Lewis John Carlino-directed American comedy-drama film ‘Class.’ The film received a lukewarm response from critics and has a 29% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. He went on to star in films like ‘The Hotel New Hampshire’ (1984), ‘St. Elmo's Fire’ (1985), ‘Youngblood’ (1986), ‘Square Dance’ (1987), ‘Masquerade’ (1988), ‘Bad Influence’ (1990), ‘The Dark Backward’ (1991), ‘Wayne's World’ (1992), ‘Frank and Jesse’ (1994), ‘Tommy Boy’ (1995), ‘Mulholland Falls’ (1996), ‘Contact’ (1997), and ‘Crazy Six’ (1998). In 1999, he joined the cast of the American serial political drama television series ‘The West Wing’ created by Aaron Sorkin. He played the role of ‘Sam Seaborn’ and remained on the show until 2003. However, he made a return to the series in 2006.Â
He was next seen in television series and shows like ‘The Lyon's Den’ (2003), ‘Dr. Vegas’ (2004), ‘Salem's Lot’ (2004), and ‘Beach Girls’ (2005). In 2006, he became a part of the main cast of the American family drama television series ‘Brothers & Sisters’ as ‘Robert McCallister.’ He starred in 76 episodes and remained on the show until 2010. He continued to star in television series like ‘Parks and Recreation’ (2010-2015, 2020), ‘Californication’ (2011-2014), ‘Franklin & Bash’ (2013), ‘Moonbeam City’ (2015), ‘The Grinder’ (2015-2016), ‘The Lion Guard’ (2016-2019), ‘Code Black’ (2016-2018), ‘The Lowe Files’ (2017), ‘Mental Samurai’ (2019-2021), and ‘Wild Bill’ (2019). In 2020, he starred as ‘Owen Strand’ in the American procedural drama television series, ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear. The series was renewed for a fourth season in May 2022. He last appeared in the American comedy streaming television miniseries ‘The Pentaverate’ in 2022.