Socs and Greasers: Behind The Scenes of The Outsiders from Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends

By Rob Lowe

A scene taken straight from Rob Lowe's New York Times bestselling memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, a wryly funny and surprisingly moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye.

In Socs and Greasers, Lowe tells us what it was like to work on the set of The Outsiders, a film that helped launch the careers of many of today's biggest stars, including Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, and Rob Lowe himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jan 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466807563

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe is a film, television, and theater actor; a producer; and an entrepreneur. He is also involved in politics and is the author of Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography. He lives in Los Angeles.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Back at the hotel I punch Tom Cruise in the face. I hit him squarely in the nose, and hard. I see his eyes water and blink, so I know he’s stunned and in pain. He goes into a rage and begins to pummel me mercilessly in the chest and ribs. It’s getting way out of hand, and finally Emilio and Tommy Howell step in and stop the fight.

We’ve taken to these nightly sparring sessions in the sixth-floor hallway as a way to kill time, blow off steam, and prepare for the upcoming rumble sequence in the movie. We wear headgear and mouthpieces; the gloves are pro-grade (all equipment provided by Emilio and Tom, the masters of fitness). Most of the time it’s pretty friendly, but every once in a while…

Hey, man, you okay? asks Cruise, coming back to reality.

I’m good. Sorry about the face shot, I say.

Well, now you know what’ll happen if you do it again! he says, grinning his grin.

We high-five and begin to help the others pack up the equipment. Soon we are planning the next session of our R and R, the nightly flyby of the lobby to check out any potential girl activity.

Since I first observed Matt Dillon’s master technique, I have been wondering how I might fare on my own. I have been dating Melissa Gilbert back in L.A., but her mom thinks I’m after her for her fame and won’t let her visit me. I’m also beginning to feel the unique effects of shooting on location—a euphoric and toxic mix of excitement, boredom, anonymity, recognizability, and loneliness. After a few weeks of walking by frenzied, available girls who look exactly like the cute girls at Samohi who always ignored me, I’m ready to have some fun.

And so begins a time-honored tradition of entertainers on the road—sometimes you chase girls, sometimes they chase you (literally), sometimes it’s just to flirt, and sometimes it’s more than that. But it’s always fun and both principals in the equation seem to get exactly what they want out of it. We are all teenage boys, so you can imagine how enthusiastically we take to this pastime. Only Swayze, who is married, seems content to watch from the sidelines with a wry smile.

For most of us Greasers it’s a perfect setup. My situation is complicated somewhat by my long-distance relationship with my girlfriend and there are times when I feel bad about that. But I begin to learn another great lesson: nothing quiets the inner voice you want to ignore better than a couple of beers. And between the open cooler on the van ride home each day and Francis’s food-and-wine festivals at the end of each week, I’m getting a lot of practice at quieting my conscience.

You really know you’ve arrived in the movies when you are given your own stuntman. These are the guys (or in our case, boys) who will take the blows and make you look like a stud. Even looking at your stuntman is a cool experience; he is dressed in your clothes, has the same haircut and style, and is your same weight and height. In essence, he is your tough, fearless doppelgänger.

Buddy Joe Hooker was (and is)

Reviews for Socs and Greasers

[optimisticcautiously · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So Rob Lowe may be an ass (he's before my generation, so I really don't know much about his sordid tales) but it does not come off in his excerpt. It was interesting to read his lessons in acting and in life. He came off, at least in this bit, as a man who learns from his mistakes and has insight into his behaviour. This makes me interested in his memoir: I really like learning from people, especially those who make BIG mistakes. Of course, a little dirt couldn't hurt.

[pennmaniac · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stories Rob Lowe only tells his friends are the type of stories I want to hear. Socs and Greasers was a good book that held my interest until the end.