Rob Lowe and his youngest son John Owen Lowe opened up about bonding over their sobriety and starring on Netflix’s series, Unstable, together.
While promoting the second season of their hit comedy, which the father-son duo also co-created and executive produced, Lowe’s youngest child, who the actor shares with make-up artist Sheryl Berkoff, credited his father for helping him beat addiction.
After confirming he was just over seven years sober, John Owen, 28, said staying clean is one of the ‘main things’ they’ve ‘connected on as father and son.’
He noted that the connection is a ‘special and nice’ between them, outside of their show, which returns next Thursday.
John Owen also praised Rob for being a role model while he was ‘struggling’ as he explained it helped to know someone that successfully ‘came out on the other side.’
![Rob Lowe and Son’s Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix’s Unstable Rob Lowe and Son’s Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix’s Unstable](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/19/87723179-13669077-image-a-2_1721845061831.jpg)
Rob Lowe and his youngest son John Owen Lowe opened up about bonding over their sobriety and working together on Netflix’s series, Unstable (Rob seen arriving to Good Morning America)
The actor also stated that his dad was ‘very smart’ in not trying to overcorrect his behavior and allow him to ‘make mistakes with boundaries’ to keep him safe.
When asked by Extra if he would advise other parents to give their children space, Rob clarified that you got to ‘give them the boundaries so they don’t kill themselves or do anything really really really really stupid.’
‘Believe me there were boundaries, but the notion that anybody is going to stop [drinking or doing drugs] because you want them to or because they got arrested or because they lost their job or they lost their girlfriend… it doesn’t work,’ he said.
Rob insisted that the only way for someone to stay sober is making the decision on ‘their own.’
Previously, John Owen said he was in hospital ‘many times’ while battling addiction and, even, had a close friend die from a Fentanyl overdose.
Meanwhile, Rob entered rehab in 1990, at 25, and has been sober since.
On Thursday, the pair also appeared on Good Morning America, where they discussed John Owen’s love of poking fun of his father online.
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 3 While promoting the second season of their hit comedy, which the father-son duo created, starred in and produced, Lowe's youngest child, who the actor shares with make-up artist Sheryl Berkoff, credited his father for helping him beat addiction](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/19/87723187-13669077-image-a-3_1721845068351.jpg)
While promoting the second season of their hit comedy, which the father-son duo created, starred in and produced, Lowe’s youngest child, who the actor shares with make-up artist Sheryl Berkoff, credited his father for helping him beat addiction
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 5 After confirming he was just over seven years sober, John Owen, 28, said staying clean is one of the 'main things' they've 'connected on as father and son'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/20/87723063-13669077-image-a-4_1721848420760.jpg)
After confirming he was just over seven years sober, John Owen, 28, said staying clean is one of the ‘main things’ they’ve ‘connected on as father and son’
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 7 John Owen also praised Rob for being a role model while he was 'struggling' as someone close to him that he saw successfully come 'out on the other side'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/20/87724973-13669077-image-a-5_1721848497786.jpg)
John Owen also praised Rob for being a role model while he was ‘struggling’ as someone close to him that he saw successfully come ‘out on the other side’
After cracking some jokes at his dad’s expense, including one about The West Wing stars’ extensive hair routine, John Owen complimented his father’s strong work ethic.
Along with Unstable, Rob and John Owen also starred in the sitcom The Grinder in 2015, as well as romance movie Holiday in the Wild in 2019, together.
Last year, John Owen told Men’s Health revealed his dad tried to discourage his son from entering showbusiness.
Despite catching the acting bug early from school plays, John Owen said Rob tried to ‘beat it out of him,’ not wanting to see him succumb to the pitfalls of fame if he were to try and have a career in the business.
Eventually, he did take a break from acting for a time, after becoming worried people only wanted to be friends with him because he had a famous parent.
‘The number of times I got compared to my dad, and the number of times he was brought up in conversation, made me so uncomfortable that I wanted to move as far away from that as possible,’ he recalled.
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 9 The actor also stated that his dad was 'very smart' in not trying to overcorrect his behavior and allow him to 'make mistakes with boundaries up' to keep him safe](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/20/87723143-13669077-image-a-6_1721848601425.jpg)
The actor also stated that his dad was ‘very smart’ in not trying to overcorrect his behavior and allow him to ‘make mistakes with boundaries up’ to keep him safe
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 11 Last year, John Owen told Men's Health revealed his dad tried to discourage his son from entering showbusiness](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/20/87722319-13669077-image-a-8_1721848617028.jpg)
Last year, John Owen told Men’s Health revealed his dad tried to discourage his son from entering showbusiness
![Rob Lowe and Son's Bond Over Sobriety and Netflix's Unstable 13 The second season for their series, Unstable, will pick up after the duo's characters successfully fought off a hostile takeover of biotech company last season; seen last year](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/24/20/87722317-13669077-image-a-9_1721848628906.jpg)
The second season for their series, Unstable, will pick up after the duo’s characters successfully fought off a hostile takeover of biotech company last season; seen last year
However after brief stints in finance and a stem-cell research lab, he returned to his first love of performing.
The second season for their series, Unstable, will pick up after the duo’s characters successfully fought off a hostile takeover of biotech company last season.
This time, however, Rob’s character, Ellis Dragon, will have to battle for control of the company comes from his own son, Jackson (played John Owen).
The show premieres on the streamer on August 1 and co-stars Sian Clifford, Rachel Marsh, Emma Ferreira and Aaron Branch.
Fred Armisen will also return to his recurring role as Leslie, Ellis’ therapist and Lamorne Morris and Iris Apatow join the cast in the new season, playing another biotech founder and a new intern.