Rob Lowe Says Son John Owen Lowe Won’t Let Him Play The Lead In His New Amazon Series: “It’s Got One Of The Greatest Parts I’ve Ever Read”

Rob Lowe got turned down for the role of a lifetime — by his own son John Owen Lowe!

When DECIDER caught up with Rob via Zoom last week, he revealed that John Owen just sold a new series to Amazon in a bidding war — and while he offered himself to play the lead role, his son told him no.

“It’s got one of the greatest parts I’ve ever read. It’s a 50-year-old guy, great part,” Rob told DECIDER while promoting his long-standing partnership with Atkins. “And he’s told me that I can’t play it. He says, ‘Dad, it’s time for me to spread my wings.’”

“Don’t you love it? Paid for this kid’s college. Supported him all the way. Now he’s written one of the greats, sold it to Amazon in a bidding war. And now look at me,” the Youngblood star playfully continued. “So I said, ‘You go ahead and get your fancy people. I’ll be around when you guys come crashing back to reality, and then I’ll be charging you double.’”

While Rob did not name the show in our interview, Amazon MGM announced this week that they are developing God’s Country, a dark comedy series created by John Owen, who will write and act as a showrunner. Actor Chris Pratt will also serve as a co-executive producer, per Deadline. The show will reportedly follow a ruthless real estate tycoon whose determination to gentrify the heart of America will threaten his empire and the safety of his family.

Rob and John Owen have a great father-son relationship both on the screen and off. The duo co-created and starred in the Netflix series Unstable, which was unfortunately canceled after two seasons. The comedy followed John Owen’s introverted character as he started to work for his eccentric, borderline narcissistic father (Rob) to keep him from spiraling out of the control following the death of his wife.

“I loved doing that show. And so did Johnny,” Rob told DECIDER. “I’m really proud of it. It’s still on Netflix, if folks haven’t seen it. I’m really proud of it.”

That wasn’t the first time they have teamed up on a show. When John Owen was in college, he worked as a writer and had a recurring role on Rob’s Fox series The Grinder. He also starred alongside his dad and older brother Matthew Lowe (who works in finance and runs the family office, according to Rob) in The Lowe Files, in which they explored unsolved mysterious and supernatural legends. In addition to that, John Owen wrote on a few episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Star, which starred Rob as Captain Owen Strand through its five seasons.

While John Owen doesn’t want his dad playing the lead in his new Amazon show as of now, they still have some other projects in the works together.

“We’re developing two movies together that we are going to do together,” Rob teased. “It’s a dream for a parent to work with their kids. It’s an absolute dream, unless, of course, it’s Succession. And then maybe it’s not so much a dream.”