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Podcast Summary: Literally! With Rob Lowe - Neve Campbell: Now You Know The Weeknd (Re-Release)
Episode Overview In this Halloween-themed re-release of the episode featuring Neve Campbell, Rob Lowe dives into a candid conversation with the acclaimed actress known for her roles in "Scream," "Party of Five," and "The Craft." The discussion reflects on Campbell's career milestones, including her extensive theatre work, personal anecdotes, and insights on the film industry.
Key Topics Discussed Introduction and Background
- Meeting Rob Lowe: Neve and Rob recall their introduction at Stephen Dorff's 40th birthday party.
- Memories of the Past: They exchange thoughts on how memories fade over time and how they rely on others to remember pivotal moments in their careers.
Scream Franchise
- Legacy of Scream: Neve discusses her long-term collaboration with co-stars Courtney Cox and David Arquette, emphasizing their friendship over the decades.
- Tribute to Wes Craven: The emotional significance of returning to the franchise following the death of Wes Craven, who she describes as a father figure.
- Directorial Influence: Neve highlights the fresh vision brought in by new directors Matt and Tyler, who were inspired by Wes Craven.
The Evolution of Horror Films
- Scream's Impact: They explore how Scream revitalized the horror genre, using a self-referential approach and humor.
- Challenges of Horror Comedies: Neve shares the complexities of blending horror and humor effectively in films.
Theatre Experience
- Phantom of the Opera: Neve reminisces about her role in the Canadian production of "Phantom of the Opera," performing 800 shows, and how those experiences shaped her as an actress.
Personal Insights
- Pop Culture Awareness: Neve admits her struggles with pop culture knowledge, humorously revealing that she didn't recognize The Weeknd's name when mentioned.
- Childhood and Early Career: Neve shares her early beginnings in ballet and how it transitioned into acting, including her first audition for Phantom.
Thoughts on Fame and Current Industry Trends
- Social Media Dynamics: The duo discusses the pressures of actors today to maintain a social media presence, contrasting it with previous eras of film and fame.
- Audience Engagement: Neve reflects on her interactions with fans at conventions and the joy of connecting with those who appreciate her work.
Key Takeaways
- Nostalgia and Growth: The conversation reinforces the nostalgia of looking back at past projects while also celebrating the growth of the actors involved.
- Power of Audience Connection: Neve emphasizes the importance of audience engagement and connection in maintaining a fulfilling career in the entertainment industry.
- Candidness in Discussions: The natural flow of conversation between Rob and Neve illustrates their comfort and camaraderie, drawing listeners into their shared experiences.
Conclusion The episode showcases a heartfelt and humorous look at Neve Campbell's journey through the entertainment industry, her reflections on iconic roles, and the evolution of the horror genre. With insights into personal and professional experiences, listeners are treated to an engaging conversation that blends nostalgia with contemporary relevance.
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Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:28Hello. fan favorites, Party of Five, Scream, The Craft. And she's lovely and sweet as can be. This is a really, really good one. So hang on. Here we come with Neve Campbell.
0:48I'm trying to think if we've ever met properly. We met at Stephen Dorff's 40th birthday party. Oh, my. The minute you get Stephen Dorff mentioned, you better be fucking rolling. That's all I know. So we met at Stephen Dorff's 40th. By the way, it sounds like a Sofia Coppola movie in the making. Yeah, it does. And actually, I didn't remember this. My cousin, Colleen, who you guys had a night, lovely chat for a good hour, I think. She told me. Oh my goodness. See, I mean, you've been doing it a long time like me and there's so many things you remember. There are also so many things you forget. I know.
1:28It's crazy the amount that you forget. Colleen is actually my memory bank. Yeah. Because it's too much. I think not one human being can remember that many events. Can you imagine the torture if you remembered absolutely everything in your life? I don't think I want to remember everything. I don't remember anything. Are you excited about the movie comes out, I don't know when we're going to air this podcast, but it comes out this week. It does. What was it like going back and being with everybody and just revisiting such a big part of your life? Great. You know, Courtney and David and I, Courtney Cox and David Arquette and I, you know, have known each other now 25 years.
2:16And we've been making these movies for 25 years, which is nuts. Nuts. Yeah. Did they meet on this? They met, yeah. And their daughter is Coco, right? Yeah. And she was the cutest little girl. God, she must be how old now? I think she's just about to go to college. Oh my God, kill me now. 18, I think. Yeah, isn't that nuts? Ah! Yeah. It's nuts. But no, it feels good. I mean, I was apprehensive about doing this one because we lost Wes, obviously. Craven, who was the reason these movies are what they are and this franchise is what it is. And he was very much like a father figure to us as well. I mean, we were all so young when we started on it and it was the beginning of our careers.
3:08And so these movies mean a lot, you know, a lot more. Yeah, just what they are. But, you know, the new guys, Matt and Tyler, They actually became directors because of Wes Craven. And they directed their movie Ready or Not, which is actually a great movie. I don't normally watch horror films, to be honest, but it's a great movie. And they made that because of Scream. So you couldn't find better people to jump in because their enthusiasm was intoxicating. And they were pinching themselves. They couldn't believe that they were getting to make this movie. In fact, Matt, my first scene, he was watching The Monitor and he forgot to say cut because he thought he was watching the next Scream movie.
3:54Like he forgot. That's amazing. Thriller. Yeah. Which was really sweet. Really sweet. I mean, it's a, I mean, the first Scream was such a big deal. They all were, but I remember it just revolutionized, like revitalized. Now horror is, I mean, such a huge genre. now, but it wasn't necessarily then. I mean, obviously there are movies that worked a lot, but it wasn't like it is now. Yeah, it had taken a minute. It had taken a break. I think people had gotten sick of them. And then Scream came around and it was probably good timing as well. But I think the fact that it, you know, it took a look at the genre itself and was self-referential and it was fresh and new.
4:47and had humor as well. And also, I mean, some of our actors, all of the actors brought a lot to it. You know, just great movie. I think they did a really good job casting it. And funny horror, for lack of a better term, is super hard to pull off. Really hard to pull off. Yeah. I mean, that is a target that, I mean, most people, you know, I'm friendly with, oh my God, I'm just going to draw up. I mean, I'm friendly. I, I, know Jason Blum, Blumhouse, you know, who's the king of horror at the moment and has been for a long, long time. And he, I was like, let's, where can we find our American werewolf in London?
5:28To me, that's the ultimate funny horror. And he's like, he's, I won't try. I will not even attempt a funny horror. It's too hard to do. Wow. Wow. Interesting. Yeah, it's really challenging. Kevin Williamson, I think he wrote the script over a weekend. Wow. He had the idea suddenly and just sat down and penned a page, you know. Yeah, it just came out like that. Yeah, it just came out. And it felt like that when you read it. You know, it just, page turner, you couldn't stop reading it. And he did it. It was incredible. And, you know, and Drew Barrymore, you know, was like nobody ever, that was the great calling card of the movie.
6:11It's like people could not believe. They thought she was going to be the Jamie Lee Curtis of it, you know. Well, exactly. You're going to be brave enough to kill Drew Barrymore in the first 15 minutes. You might have something. You know what I mean? Right? Yeah. We actually, David and Courtney and I just did her show last week. How was that? I've seen parts of it and it's, you know, I've known Drew, oh boy. Oh my God. I think maybe since she was 14. Wow. You know, and she's such a character. Yeah. I mean, there's no one like her. That's for sure. and what I've seen of her show is it's exactly what you would want a Drew Barrymore talk show to be.
6:52Yeah. Which is her telling all her anecdotes. Yeah, I saw a clip. There's a clip like on YouTube making the rounds because you guys are right in the middle of the big press tour. Okay. And she was asking, what is it? It was so Drew Barrymore. What was she talking about? Do you remember? What did you guys talk about? I haven't seen the clips. I mean, she went there. I mean, she got into drugs and I think she said when she was young, she would drink at 10, do Coke at 12, and then something at five. I can't remember what it was. So she had a doubt of chronologically.
7:30It was interesting because she did the movie with us, obviously, but we didn't actually work with her. We knew her at the time because we were doing read-throughs and there was a gathering at Wes's and we would do some interviews after the movie came out and stuff. But unfortunately, I didn't actually get to work with her. So it was really interesting to listen to her experience on it and what it meant to her and for us to express that as well. But I'm not sure what the clip would have been that you saw. Whatever it was. She just goes off, doesn't she? She just said. It was like, I'm not sure where this is going, but I'm really loving it.
8:03What was Wes Craven like? I got to work with Stephen King. I've actually done two Stephen King things. And the first one, The Stand, Stephen wrote himself, adapted his own classic book and was on set the whole time. And he's the loveliest. Yeah. The like most unassuming, my just brief Stephen King story I'll never forget was we were going to see a basketball game together and we're walking through a parking garage and we were lost. and just one of those monolithic parking garages with 75 levels and everything looks the same. He's like, parking garages. Parking garages are scary. I was like, well, here comes a book.
8:47You just know it. And was there? I wonder. I wonder. Well, there have got to be Stephen King freaks listening. Yeah. Is there a Stephen King parking garage opus? Because if there was, I was at its inception. Wow, that's great. You know, Wes was... Because similarly, I guess, you expect these people to be really sick and twisted. And yes, I mean, Wes had a sick and twisted sense of humor and obviously had an angle on the world that was interesting. But a sweetheart, like a gentle, gentle. When he walked, he was like long and tall and gentle. And when he walked, it was like a gazelle. Wow. So graceful.
9:28And just really sweet. and had a great giggle. Loved to have a giggle. And then he loved to giggle at really violent things too, like in the movie. He would just sit at the monitor like... I love that. Isn't that the best when there's somebody behind the monitor that has a giggle? Oh, yes. And when it ruins takes, it's the best. Yeah, because you know you've done your job. Yes, yes. Top giggler of all time in my life, without a doubt, no one as close as Amy Poehler. Oh, really? Yeah, she has a cackle. Well, she doesn't have a cackle. She has a cackle. Literally like a cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle.
10:07Brilliant. So you'd know if you were being funny because you'd hear Amy cackling away. Great, I love it. Ricky Gervais, another great giggler. Oh my gosh. I had dinner with Ricky once in London and met his wife who's really lovely and has great books. I like her books. Yep. And what a nice guy. Yeah, he is amazing. So Scream. Yeah. Get out of your pajamas. Go sit in the theater. You gotta want it. If you want Scream, you gotta want it. You gotta get into the world. It's such a fun movie to see it in theater. It really is. Well, that's the other thing. Have you, you must have sat in theaters with any of the Screams where people were like, don't open that door.
10:50For sure, of course. But you know, this is the kind of movie, well, I certainly know that people have come up to me and said when the first one came out, they went 20 times, 30 times. Because it's just the kind of movie that's so much fun to see with an audience. Because you're at the edge of your seat and everyone's screaming at the screen at the same time and laughing. And it's just a joy. How old were you when you started? You were youngish. When I started everything or when I started to scream? No, when you started the whole... When you started in this wonderful business we call the Dream Factory.
11:23Well, professional... So I started out as a ballet dancer. I started dancing when I was six and I was at the National Ballet School of Canada when I was 15. And at 14, I left the National Ballet School. And at 15, I did my first audition, just turning 15, did my first audition, which was the Phantom of the Opera. And it was the original Canadian cast. And Al Prince was directing it. And it was just one of those. I mean, I literally, I didn't even know what Phantom of the Opera was. and some ballet dancer friends of mine were going to the audition and said, you should come. And my mom was like, yeah, just go for the audition experience.
12:02Just go to know what it is to audition. And I went and it was thousands of dancers auditioning from all over. And I just kept getting called back and called back and called back. And it was the most surreal few days because the audition process happened over a week. And yeah, I ended up one of the six ballet digger girls in Phantom of the Opera and understudying Meg when I was 15. Jeez. Yeah. Yeah. I love that show so much. I know it's not hip or cool to say it, but good Lord, do I love that show. That's a good show. Oh my God, it's insane. Come on. We had Colm Wilkinson, who is the Phantom. Yeah, the Phantom.
12:43The Phantom, the best one. And who's just, I could listen to him sing that show or anything for the rest of my life all day. Just a phenomenal. I finally saw it in London years and years and years and years. Later. Later. I mean, it had been running for... And I knew every note of it, right? I mean, I knew the music and was obsessed with it. I love that. Phantom geek. Oh, total fan. I'm a total musical comedy nerd. One billion percent. But I went and saw it and it's so funny. I was thinking, what is it about this show I'm seeing? Because it had the feel of a little bit of a Disney Cruise version.
13:22in that it had been going for so long that it felt a little like it had been going for so long, but it was still undeniable. Yeah. Now, did you ever meet Andrew Lloyd Webber? Yeah, I did. I did. He came to our opening because we were the original Canadian cast. At that huge theater. What theater was it? At that huge theater. Yeah. Garth Drabinsky. This was in Toronto. Yes. In Garth Drabinsky. legend legend yeah um he this is when he'd sort of been kicked out of the film world and decided well fine this he had some like golden handshake from sublex odion and um and said okay fine and within a year was brought musical theater to canada i mean other other than ed mervish who was doing les mis um garth just he was like okay i'm gonna take this what was the old Pantages and refurbish it and it had been turned into, I think cinemas and he turned it back into this beautiful old theater.
14:29Built, yeah, rebuilt the theater, opened the show and then he went from show to show to show and won all kinds of awards and just you know, one of those I saw his version of Riverboat? Yeah. In Canada? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. You know what was interesting with Garth? He would come in to the theater or come into the rehearsal halls from the very beginning almost every day and he would sit in the seats the back of the rehearsal hall and just cry and i used to wonder what is it but you know what is garth was one of the last people to have uncured polio um yeah walked with like a really heavy leg and the phantom that's what it's about It's about someone who is disfigured, who yearns for love and tries to overcome and becomes a bit of a tyrant.
15:23And it was really interesting. Wow, that is really interesting. Yeah. What is your favorite Phantom song? So many great ones on that. Oh, gosh. Music of my life. Music of the night. Music of the night, yeah. Has to be music of the night, right? Yeah. You know what was so weird? I did two years of that had my 16th birthday in the green room backstage I did 800 shows oh wait wait wait you did 800 shows 800 shows in two years so you think about people who do it 10 years or 12 and there are those people and I remember Colm saying to me Wilkinson because I had during Phantom and Agent Amali 800 shows yeah It's a lot, isn't it?
16:12It's a lot of pointeers. You know what it is? Once you get above 100, anything beyond 100 is a lot of shows in the theater. It's a lot. Is it true that one of your first paying jobs was a Coca-Cola commercial? And I have a reason for asking this. Yes. My first job was a Coca-Cola commercial. Oh my goodness. We're in a good club. What was your Coke commercial like? My Coke commercial was actually waking... It was a tour for Bryan Adams called Waking Up the Nation. Oh my God. So it was Bryan Adams and his band and me. With like crimped hair. Yeah, for sure. In a white t-shirt. You were doing your version of Courtney Cox with Bruce Springsteen.
17:02Yes, exactly. I didn't know that at the time, but yes. that probably literally is I'll bet you if you went back and asked Brian he's like yeah and I wanted to do my version of Courtney and Bruce right yeah I would imagine so so yeah that was my commercial what was your commercial mine was the first commercial ever made exclusively for the Super Bowl oh cool it was in 1977 and it was they spent a million dollars on the set and it was a four story New York tenement set in a soundstage. I don't think I'd ever been on a soundstage in Hollywood before. And it was a single shot commercial. And the camera panned up from the street where me, where I was a little boy playing on the stoop.
17:52And I looked up and that motivated the camera. And the camera went up, craned up and looked in all the windows. And in each window was a tableau of people living their lives and drinking Coke. till it got to the roof and there was a guy singing the new Coke theme. Wow. With his guitar on the roof. It was way ahead of its time and super, super arty. And I think it only ran like once or twice. Wow. Really? But I got my, that was my Taft Hartley, as they say. That's when you get in the union for the first time. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That and Tampax and McDonald's. I was a McDonald's girl, like in the McDonald's uniform.
18:35We've brought McDonald's value home. It's in your mailbox. I still remember my lines. Oh my God. Mine was Carl's Jr., which is a chain on the West Coast. And that was me and Regis Philbin. What? Yeah. And I remember my line from mine was, we've got taste or I've got taste. Isn't it funny that we remember them? You probably can't remember a fucking line from Scream. No. You can remember the McDonald's commercial. Oh yeah, of course. because I had to get it right. Yes. Oh, and by the way, are there any folks more uptight and wanting to get it right and more sticklers than the people in commercials?
19:15No. They're on it, man. I mean, they make Aaron Sorkin look like a slacker. So true. Oh my God. They're like, so that was great. Could you just maybe a little more energy when you're talking about the food? On this word, not on this line. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny.
19:47Now, this is also funny. I get, I've got great folks who help me research people. And one of the things that shows up in your research is she knew nothing about pop culture. You should know. I'll shut you right here. here's nev campbell there you are that's your life yeah just shrunken down into bullet points and then the one two three four five there's the seventh bullet point about you is that you know nothing about pop culture yeah now when you say you know nothing about pop culture how bad is it what stage yeah how how how ignorant are you pop culture unbelievably Unbelievably, um, unbelievable.
20:33Oh, someone told me the other day that The Weeknd has me in his song, a song of his that just dropped has my name. And I said, which weekend?
20:46I love, by the way, I love you for that. That's amazing. Here's what I like about you already. The way, because I have another friend who knows, I'm going to drop the name. Fuck it. Gwyneth Paltrow. She knows nothing about pop culture. Nothing. Literally nothing. Yeah. But she has a way of, when she doesn't know it, there's... And I love her to pieces. And she's, you know, she's the godmother to my son. So I can get away with saying this. But she has a way... It's also a signal, a not-so-subtle signal, that she really doesn't give a fuck about that particular person, which makes me laugh. It's very sort of bitchy and funny.
21:28Yours is totally like blithe and innocent. Oh, man. And you're like, I just don't know what weekend. I literally don't know. I wouldn't be that. How can I get... Look, I don't... I'm not a pop culture person. Yeah. In that way, but I do this show and I like... But I... You have to know. I'm not comfortable telling people I don't know something. And that's on me. That's a flaw. It's a character flaw. For sure. Yeah, I don't have a problem with that because there's so much I don't know. Like I wouldn't be able to throw away with it, honestly. You know, growing up in the ballet world, it was so intular.
22:12I mean, literally, especially at the National Ballet School, all you paid attention to was the dancers in which company and what company you hoped to move to, which contemporary company or ballet company. it just and I knew even as a young child the companies around the world but I couldn't tell you anything else because we weren't taught it we weren't around it it wasn't part of the discussion also my parents never really into pop culture so whatever that word means even but I can tell you things like Francis Ford Coppola had I think a script that he's been trying to make for maybe 30 years It was called Megalopolis.
22:57Megalopolis. I was going to say, is this Megalopolis? It's Megalopolis. And I was called to do a reading with John Voight and Sean Penn and a whole slew of wonderful people in San Francisco in Francis's building. And they served a lunch downstairs and we went down in the studio and we recorded this. And when my agents called me to tell me about it, I didn't know who Francis was. Okay, wait a minute. Okay, I have so many questions here. I have so many questions. How long ago was this? Like what timeframe? I think I must've been 22 or 23, something like that. Wow. So he's made Godfather one, Godfather two, Apocalypse Now.
23:37Oh, The Outsiders, who? Yep. Yep. Did no Francis? No. Isn't that awful? Yeah. But you know what? My dad really likes musical theater also. So, and I saw, I luckily as a child went to the theater a lot, went to the ballet a lot, went to see a lot of theater. My dad was an amateur theater director and high school drama teacher for 35 years. Oh, wow. So I saw, and my mom owned a dinner theater. So I was always - A dinner theater. How great is that? It's a dinner theater that my brother used to act in. So I was around the theater a lot in Canada, but - First of all, wait, I got to ask you about Megalopolis because he's still trying to make it, you know?
24:23Gosh, I heard that, yeah. It's so shocking to me that Francis Ford Coppola isn't getting loads of money to make films. You know what I mean? Oh, you're kidding me? I'd be like, who wouldn't want to see Francis's dream project? Yeah. Do you remember anything about the reading or the script or the experience? It was so heartbreaking is I was sick. I had the worst cold, like flu cold and didn't get the script until I landed and got to my hotel room at nine o 'clock at night. And the reading was the next day. And the script was 300, I think, pages. Oh my God. So I could barely breathe or think, let alone read a very complicated script.
25:09They're kind of surrealist script. So I didn't know what I was, honestly didn't know what I was doing. I have no, like, it was a cool experience. the read-through because he had sound people doing sound effects and they recorded the whole thing. And I know that he's done lots of different recordings of this script over the years. He's done it on stage. He's done performances. He's done, from what I understand, a lot of different versions of readings of it. Gosh, do I wish I'd been older and known what I was reading and not been sick that day. Right. I mean, when you look back, so you, but you knew the mood, you would, you have known those movies though?
25:51With The Godfather and all that? Yeah. I think when they told me, I then saw, watched The Godfather the next day before I flew that weekend. They actually, for my birthday, sent me a box of VHS of like 50 top most pop culture movies, which actually was a great way to receive all those films. I hadn't seen them. I hadn't grown up with them. Great opportunity in my 20s to see all of that. It's great. Recently, when I'm bored on a set, which is a lot of the time, I've taken to making my list of classic movies and it's really so fun to do. And then you try to put them in order. which gets really, really, really hard.
26:42Great. And, but it's funny, no matter how I shuffle the deck, Godfather 1 and 2 are, it goes Godfathers, The Godfathers and Goodfellas. And I hate the fact, I hate that my top three movies are all Italian mafia movies because it makes me sound like I have a fetish about it. But those are the three best movies ever made. I'm sorry. They are. Yeah. See, my dad raised me, to review cinemas. I saw a lot of foreign films like Leolo or Babette's Feast or just so many foreign films as a young child that that became my taste really. Cinema Paradiso was my favorite movie. It's a great one. So I think that's why also I just was not exposed to the normal.
27:36Yeah. Apparently, you also, when you hosted SNL, had Bowie as your guest. Gosh, and I didn't know who Bowie was. Come on. My friend Michael had an education. I know. It's so awful. So wasted on me, right? I know. I know. But my friend Michael did expose me to a bunch of Bowie's music the week that I was about to go. Did you meet Bowie? Of course. Yeah. He was like an alien. Yeah. I mean, he and... Is it Iman? Iman, yes. They're like two... Alien people. They're from another planet. They're from another... They were from another planet. He's one of the nicest... So nice. And I did meet him like two more times after that.
28:25For some reason, I ended up introducing him at two different concerts also. I don't know. But what a nice person. What an amazing, magical man. Bowie. I mean, just that great thing where you're the SNL. You're like, ladies and gentlemen, David Bowie. You're like, yeah, that works. Yeah, I like that. Ladies and gentlemen, have you seen the famous... I always forget. I sound so old. The difference between a meme and a gif, which is the one that has sound? I don't know. I don't know, people. Somebody can help me with this. A meme is the one that has sound. Okay. The famous meme of Daniel Craig on SNL going, ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.
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29:09Oh, wow. Oh, really? Yeah. And every Friday, it's all over social media. People just go like introducing the weekend. You have to, it's the best, but it's perfect for you because it's introducing. Now you know who the weekend. The weekend. Yeah. Thank you.
29:29my my son was um is a is a just got his law degree and and he was uh interning at a entertainment law firm and um he used to have to get future on the phone okay which made me laugh it's not the future it's future it's future so what would he have to what my future future was obviously up to some hijinks and this lawyer was helping him out, but it would be like, I have future on the phone for you, Mr. Stein. Future. It's kind of awesome. Isn't it? It's kind of awesome. It's great. I love people who have the balls to name themselves, things like that. Zendaya. Yeah. Right? You know, she's going for it.
30:15Yeah. What would I... You and I could have... Nev. I would have just been Nev if I were you. That's such a great name. So then everybody's like Neve, Neve. Oh, no, no, no. They still were doing it. I'm like, wait a minute. It's never occurred to me ever to call you Neve. I never thought it was Neve. Even when I first heard of you, what is with people who think it's Neve? Well, it actually makes sense in the spelling. There's an E at the end. Guess. I guess, but no, Nev. Well, and also Neve is a more common name from Ireland. Oh. Nev is not a name until my parents came up with it. And it's honestly, it's my mother's maiden name.
30:50She's Dutch. And they decided to pronounce it Nev in Canada. I would have just stuck with that. I mean, not that you needed any help. Your career is great. But if you were Nev, just plain, just Nev. Yeah. Yeah. Right? That now? Can you imagine? I think you need to do that. Getting rid of Campbell. Get rid of Campbell. Listen. I would be Campbell so fast. If John Mellencamp can get rid of John Cougar Mellencamp, you can get rid of Campbell. I think. Okay. But then you also have to start a band. Do you sing? Yeah. No. I mean... I do not sing with all your musical theater, theater, schmier, mirror.
31:32You know what? I don't consider myself a singer. I'm a dancer, singer. Dancer, actor, singer. You know what I mean? Yes, I do. I know exactly. I know because... I have a song and I can carry a tune. I can learn a song and I can sing a song. So you were in Studio 54, called just 54. Yes, yes. So you're too young to have ever gone to the real Studio 54. Yeah, yeah. And also, I wouldn't have known that Studio 4 existed because I knew nothing about pop. You would have gone to Studio 47. I don't know, it's 54, okay? I would have thought I was going to a ballet studio. I'd have gone up to like 54th Street and looked for the ballet studio.
32:17You would have come in tights. Well, that would have been probably about what people were doing in Studio 54. So, yes, I was in Studio 54. Mike Myers, man, what a talent. Yeah. A talent, I got it. I mean, talk about a Toronto legend. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He was made whatever that is that we are knighted in Toronto. He's got the Canadian Legion of Honor. Oh, my goodness. And it's very fancy. Very fancy. It's as close to royalty as I know. They haven't even called me about my handprints. Yeah, at the Garth Drabinsky Multiplex right there on Yonge Street or whatever.
33:02Right? Exactly. I mean, how have you not been the grand martialette of TIFF, as they call it? Canadians never found anything that they didn't want to make cute. And Canadian, it's like there's always like, it can't just be the Toronto Film Festival, which by the way, sounds adult. Yes. Of substance. Yes. And we're the, no, no, no. Now it's TIFF. But do you think they decided that? 100 % they did. They're also the same folks that decided that base camp in a movie should be called The Circus. Really? Oh, he's broke down at the circus, eh? At a Canadian thing? Oh. There's a whole list of things in the movie business that you can trace directly to Canadian movies.
33:49Like when you forget your lines on a set. Yeah. There's a person sitting by the monitor who you would ask and who would that person be? Who would you ask to see? You would ask to see the... Continuity. Continuity. Oh, even better. Good. Good for you. A script supervisor? That's what I was going to say, but in Canada, it's not. What do they say? Scripty. Scripty. Yes. Yes. Yes, you're right. I worked where she was, she was scripty on the Big Red Balloon. We did eight episodes together.
34:22Don't get me. This is my side obsession that we've now gone into the rabbit hole. Tim Hortons. It's true. It's true. Oh, Timmy's. Timmy's. Oh yeah. We stopped at Timmy's and got a crew with me and scripty. Yep. And then we took them all to the circus. That's right. And, you know, who joined us? The DOP. The DOP. joined us. The DOP. The DOP. Not the director of photography. The DOP. Literally the director of photography. Yes, we like to get things correct. Oh, don't you though? We definitely follow our rules in Canada. It's unbelievable. Yeah. It's, it's, I would say they're, you know, the Canadians never met a rule they didn't want to follow.
35:08Very. Now wait, now your parents are from, did you say Denmark? No, my mom is from Amsterdam. and my father is from Glasgow, Scotland. Okay, because I have a friend who's Czech, Czech Republic, and they will not follow a rule. Oh, no. I think it's the Eastern communist, like they had to find a way to rebel for so many years. Like my friend who's a Czech is like the antithesis, and they would put her away in jail in Canada in a week. Like she's the kind of person that like won't stop at a stop sign. If there's a line, she's going to cut in it. It's like in her culture, literally. It's made to break.
35:47Yes. Rules are made to be broken. Wow. And Canada's rules are made to be followed. Oh, and it's crazy because when you're... Which is more crazy making? Okay, what? Of those two. Well, what I found challenging coming from Canada originally was getting out of that mode coming anywhere else. It was so funny to me. But now I'm at that place where I was shooting something. I went back to Canada to shoot something a couple of years ago. And I, it was, I was in a tiny town. It was 10 o 'clock at night. There was nobody, but one couple across the street. There were no cars. And I crossed on a red light and they looked so aghast.
36:29Yes. The fact that I was crossing the street. I was like, people, really? I'm telling people, all of my Canadian friends will be going, yeah, that's the way we roll. And there are other people that are going to think that you're making that up. I know you're not. I'm not making that up at all. Your son's nine? I have two sons. Oh, I didn't know. I have a nine-year-old and a boy who's almost four. And are they going to see Scream? No, not for a long time. I am... My boys are older. They're adults now. But I... It's funny because every parent has to figure out how they're going to navigate what their kids see and don't see and watch and don't watch.
37:10And my philosophy was always, I probably let my kids watch stuff that they probably shouldn't have watched in terms of content and stuff like that. But they were things that were fucking awesome. And my thing was, I'd rather have my kids watching that than shit. Like what they could not watch in my house was something that was bad. Yeah. Like there was no bad Disney comedy, crap, Nicola. It was not happening in my house. Yeah. Nice. You gotta teach him taste. You do. Although I gotta say, Rainer loves Disney movies. He just loves Disney movies. He has to do them. Good Disney movies are great. You know the ones I'm talking about with the sitcoms that they do.
37:53Yeah. Yes, I know what you're talking about. Absolutely. But good Disney movies are fantastic. Yeah, for sure. You've worked with so many interesting people. It's like Sissy Spacek and Jeremy Irons. Yeah. In Last Call. Yeah, that was an amazing experience. I was this wonderful writer-director, Henry Burmel, who was a dear, dear... Oh, yes, of course. Sadly passed away, but was one of my best friends. And just an incredible, just an incredible writer. One of those people who just loves human beings and will just sit and ask you questions after questions. You knew he was a writer because he was just so, so curious about everybody and everything and everything that made people tick.
38:37And he was just a delight. And he wrote this wonderful script called Last Call, which was F. Scott Fitzgerald in the last year of his life when he was writing The Last Tycoon. And about that time. And I played this wonderful woman named Frances Crow Ring, who was his assistant for the last year of his life. And I actually got to know her on set. She was still with us at the time. So it was so phenomenal to sit with this woman who'd spent all this time with Francis. And then Sissy, who just... Isn't she just an incredible human being? She's amazing. And Jeremy Irons is in one of my favorite Canadian directed movies of all time, Dead Ringers.
39:22You ever seen that movie? Yeah, where he plays the twins. Is that right? Oh, yes. Really good. Yeah. And Jeremy's a wonderful man. Never met him. Great guy. Great guy. I got to get him on the show because I'm a huge. Yeah. Oh, he would love that.
39:47We're going to talk Party of Five, of course. Mm-hmm. Party of Five. Now, how has there not been a reboot of that? How has that not been? They actually did a new one. And they did a new one. It wasn't a reunion. I thought it was a really interesting concept. And I wish it had continued the idea. Because, you know, Party of Five was about five kids who lost their parents in a car accident. And this time around, it's five Mexican kids whose parents have been sent back across the border. Oh, wow. That's an interesting new take on that. It's a great, important thing to talk about. And I thought they did a really great job with it.
40:25But it's so hard now. I mean, there's just so much content out there. Yeah. I think it's hard for things to carry on. You know what I mean? Like when we did Party of Five, we did not have a huge audience in the first year, but we had all these fans writing into TV Guide. The TV Guide saved us, actually. All these fans writing in saying, please save the show. You can't let it go. And that saved us. And they gave us the opportunity to stay on. But back then, if you were on a TV show, the likelihood is that people watch, someone had seen at least an episode because there weren't that many shows. Right.
40:59Now, I mean, I don't even know where to turn when I turn on the TV. I've literally, there's so much content, I don't know where to start. I end up turning it off. You know, you and I are separated at birth because I just know it's going to be too hard to, just even like the Beatles documentary, which I'm obsessed with. And it was everywhere in the zeitgeist. Everybody was talking about it. Everybody was texting about it. It was so hard to find. And I knew where it was on. Right. And you go to the main screen and like, how is that not on the main screen? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Whatever the hell it was, Apple Plus or Disney Plus, whatever it was.
41:34Uh-huh. Especially if it's following your algorithm, you would think it would pop up for you and it didn't. You would think? Right.
41:45I did a series, one of my first things in 1979. Uh-huh. There were three networks and there were only 62 shows in existence. Oh, right. So there you go. 62. Yeah. I know it was 62 because we were number 62. We were literally the last place show on television. On all of TV. But they kept you. They kept you for 13 episodes, they did. But now I can't even imagine. There's so much, which is great for young actors or all actors. It's great and it's not great. It's great in the sense that there's a lot more jobs. So your likelihood of getting something and being employed is probably higher. But that's why I think they have to do all this social media now.
42:30Because to get people to actually know your name and know who you are, unless it's the sort of unique group that's watching your show because they're into that show, not everyone's going to know you. Well, I think about that a lot. Because my youngest son is a writer, actor. and like what it means to make a name for yourself today. Yeah. And how you do it is it could not be more foreign or different than it was for me. And certainly it's different than it even was five, 10 years ago. Yeah. That you have to share your entire self to build an audience. I don't know. You're losing kind of the magic, aren't you?
43:17part of me feels like you share too much. I mean, nowadays, it's what people expect and want, but you share too much. How are you going to convince people you're a character? Look, it's a fascinating conversation. And honestly, I don't know where I fall on it because it's like, I don't want... I didn't... We didn't see Paul Newman coming out of a Starbucks. No. Do you know what I mean? Which is why people say, why do people not watch the Oscars? Well, it's A, because most America never even knows about the movies they nominated. But other than that, it's like you had to watch the Oscars if you wanted to see those stars in person.
43:58Yes. It's the only way you could see it. The only way. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Or if they were maybe on a talk show and most of the stars didn't do them. I mean, Jack Nicholson's never done a talk show. Wow. Never. Warren Beatty, never done a talk show. and and there was there was also you know a sort of sense that if you did that you were a sort of a sellout like you are working it too hard can you imagine that today would not fly so crazy now they want you to do a tick tock at your house yeah and it's and it's in most actors contracts now most people don't realize I know I'm so bad with social media I literally I'm on Instagram because Dwayne Johnson told me to do it well there you go because I was doing a film with him and he was like have you got to get on this and I thought maybe I do and the studios do ask you now they want you to promote their films with your and so I'm only ever on when I'm when I've got a film coming out because I'm being asked to do it very very rarely do I ever post and every time I do post I have to get out or my cousin to do it or someone to do it for me because I've forgotten how to do it.
45:11I do it so little. I found that I actually kind of like it. Oh, good. And it's... Yeah, I kind of like it. I mean, I just got on TikTok. Can I ask why? Like, what is it about it that feels good? Well, on Twitter, which I've pulled way back from because people have gotten so crazy with... Everybody takes offense at everything. Yeah. But Twitter I loved in the glory days because it was a way to comment on anything and everything you wanted to comment on. If you had a funny joke about something or you thought that you had an insight. And also, if you ever wanted to have a sort of free shot on goal, like go right directly to your audience without having to do a proper interview, it was great.
46:03and Instagram is fun. I still do that. And TikTok is pretty... I don't do it a lot, but when I'm inspired to do something, I do it and it's just... It's sort of fun and like, you know, people who I've never would have thought who... I figure if Anthony Hopkins can be an Instagram star, TikTok star, then it's okay by me. Is he? Huge. No way. Yes. What? Huge. Anthony Hopkins 100%. That's something I want to see. That's so interesting. I just, for me, I never, I just, it's not me to stop in a moment to think, to take a picture of it. Do you know what I mean? I don't share photos of my kids just because I feel like that should be their choice later.
46:51Totally. Also, our second is adopted. And I just feel like I think about his birth mother. Oh, yeah. how that would feel to just have your, uh, the child that you bore popping up in pictures everywhere. I think that would be challenging. You're not wrong. Right? The people, the people who say I don't do it are not wrong. I mean, the, the, the, and there's an argument for why there aren't any real stars anymore is that there's no mystery. And that, yeah, that's what I was saying is like, I don't, I don't know how you can, if you, if you reveal everything and you're trying to convince people that you're someone else as a character, it's, I don't know, isn't that more challenging?
47:35But I don't know. It's, it's such an interesting thing because so many people are all of the map on it. And I'm, I don't know. I, it, I just know that for me, I don't stop to take photos. It makes me uncomfortable. I'm, I'm gun shy about it as well. I just know that people, people will jump pounce if you do anything wrong. And it just terrifies me. Listen, you're not wrong. I totally, totally get it. But it's... They don't judge anybody for doing it in any way. It's just a personal... Well, you look at somebody like The Rock. I've never met The Rock. That's not true. I met him briefly and I grabbed his arms and they were unbelievable.
48:17I mean, his arm, his bicep, I had to kiss him as a teen and his head is like, it's very strange and his arm like his arm is way bigger than my thigh like his forearm it's just surreal he's literally the rock that's he's a rock an actual rock I didn't like to call that though DJ oh that's so interesting he's a really nice guy but he's the biggest I think he's the biggest social media person in the world he's the new iteration of a movie star he is yeah absolutely And what I love about him is his work ethic. No one works harder. Nobody. But you're right. And then he walks on set and you're like, hey, DJ.
48:59Everyone loves him. And for good reason. But it's like, you know, I was a child actor in an era before there was a lot of it, really. And you were on time, no matter what. You learned your lines and you didn't get your hair messy. Right. I know. Well, and I'm a dancer. So I'm like, it's all about discipline. And I'm Canadian as well. So forget it. Forget about it. I don't think I've ever been late a day in my life. But that's just my work ethic. I get super anxious when I'm late. I don't mind being a little bit, like five minutes. Five minutes. Just so I'm not waiting on anyone else either? I don't think that at all.
49:52I might happen to be, I don't know. But beyond that, what do they call punctuality? It's the kindness of kings. Have you heard that one? I've not heard that, but I didn't like it. How old were you when you started? Eight. Oh my gosh. In dinner theater. Wow, really? Regional dinner theater in Ohio. Wow. No, you might be the only human being I've ever met who's been involved in dinner theater somehow as a kid. I will say, you haven't really acted until you're delivering a monologue while busboys are clearing the plates. Yeah. Right? Who's a dinner theater? Here's my thing is like, are you saying the dinner's not good enough to warrant coming for the dinner and the theater's not good enough to warrant coming from the theater.
50:44But if you get both of them, then it's worth going to this place. Might have a nice evening. Yeah. Yeah. You know, were you aware of the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater? No. Of course you weren't. Who am I? I forgot I was talking to. You don't know who fucking David Bowie is. See, now you know me. Now you know me. Now I know you. Burt Reynolds, God rest him, had a dinner, the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater. Just that phrase. I want to say it again. the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater. It's the greatest thing I've ever heard of. In Jupiter, Florida, and people would go. My friend Martin Sheen did Mr. Roberts.
51:21Oh my God. The Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater. Oh my gosh. It's a little like waiting for Guffman. It sounds a little bit like a Christopher Guest. It does. I met Burt Reynolds. I went to one of these autograph signing things a few years ago and I was summoned to his table. And I thought, oh, that's the coolest. Yes. the coolest and I went up and he had like orange he had like some heavy tan skin on big glasses and this fabulous suit little man he was a little man at the point I have no idea why I was summoned oh my god I went and shook his hand and did a photo with him and it was really sweet it was really nice to meet him tell me about these see it's funny I was gonna ask you about these and then I got sidetracked about Scream between Scream and Party of Five that's a huge fan base culty you could crush the personal appearance autograph circuit.
52:15Yeah. And the craft as well. Of course. Yeah. That's got a big cult following. So what is... At one of those autograph shows, what is the vibe? Who's there? What's it like? So my first time going to this, I was really nervous. And I thought, are they going to be creepy? Who are these people? And you just realize it's like the nerdiest... film geeks in the world who are all like-minded and can't wait to see each other, are excited to see each other and have a weekend together and so excited to meet you. It's just the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful. Honestly, it's a really wonderful experience.
53:00Especially when you're not in theater and you're doing film and stuff, you're not meeting your audience and you're not getting a sense of really how people feel about it. I mean, I get people coming up with tattoos of Sidney Prescott on their cabs and asked me to like autograph their arms. I'm like, I have the worst autograph in the world. I'm like, are you sure? I swear you're going to regret this. But so you get very surreal moments like that. I've even had parents bring their kid up and their kids got like a big ax sticking out of their head. Oh my God. And they're like, it's your screams. They're his favorite movie, like five-year-old, six-year-old.
53:35But like these people love these movies, just love them. And as I said, are just so happy to be around like-minded people. And yeah, I love it. I have a hard time with those things because I really like people. And it's super hard to get through a big lot because I want to, where are you from? What are you doing? And everybody wants to say something and you want to say something to them. and you literally cannot spend three minutes with every single person. You can't do it. You can't get through the line. Even honestly, like 40 seconds. I do give people time and I don't get through the line, but I really think these people have come to spend some money and they've maybe flown from somewhere and it means a lot.
54:28And so I don't really understand it when some people don't talk. they literally just sign. I don't get it. I'm incapable of doing it. Can't do it. You know what? Because you're Canadian and you follow rules and that's, you know, and I'm a Midwestern people pleaser. Yeah. So am I. People pleaser for sure. But it's also just a nice thing to do, right? I mean, I don't understand it otherwise. What's the point? Yeah, it's so fun. Well, this is fun. I love, this is, this is such a fun, I hope you had fun. Just a good little chat. I did. Right? Are you in the middle of a big press thing at the moment?
55:00Is that what's happening? Yeah. I just came from Kelly Clarkson. Oh, she's great, right? Gosh, what a sweetheart. Great, right? The best. And she learns a song and sings a song every day. It's insane. How talented can you be? I love her show. Yeah. And I love her. She's wonderful. Such a sweetheart. Yeah. So that was nice. Yeah. So just a whole lot of press. And what's nice is it's getting really well-reviewed. You know, getting well-received and people are enjoying it. So that's the goal. It's going to be big. It's going to be a blockbuster. Who knows? Who knows? You never, you know, you never know.
55:39You never know. Especially with Omicron. Yeah, I mean, who knows whether people are going to want to go to the theater. I bet you they go. That's my bet. Well, we'll see. Either way, I had fun making it and hopefully people will enjoy the film. For sure. Good luck. Break a leg. Have a good one. Thank you. Take care.
56:00Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I'm going to go take Skrifty to Crafty. There's Hot Pockets there, eh? How great is she, right? She gives me the warm and fuzzies, and I'm psyched to see Scream. So go see Scream, support our girl Nev, and I see the light is flashing on the answering machine here in the studio. That is the lowdown line. Hello, you've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep. Hi, Rob. It's Mara and Kiera. We're roommates from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I recently just finished Lone Star, 9-1-1, and Kira, she loves.
56:54I love the low files. And the outsiders. And the outsiders. Kira loves the outsiders, and now we're watching the low files. So we, one, are requesting more seasons of the low files. We'd like it brought back. I can contact A &E on all of our behalf, if need be. I think the question really is, what's next for Rob Lowe? So there are more seasons of the low files, more firefighter stuff, outsider reboot. What are we thinking? Thank you for your time, Rob. We love you. We love you, Rob. So much. Oh, you guys, you guys are too damn cute. Thank you. And I love that you love the low files. The low files is one of my favorite things that I've done in terms of the experience.
57:42to ride around with my boys in that tricked out raptor chasing paranormal activity. I mean, my God, it's basically two of my favorite shows combined. Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown, and Scooby-Doo. I mean, what could be better? And yes, you should call A &E. 100 % you should. I talk to them all the time about bringing back the low files and I'm wearing them down. The issue was they never put us where we should be. We should have been next to ancient aliens, which is a massive hit for them. And they put us there once and we crushed it, but that's where, so I think the show's great. I loved it.
58:26We were going to, I mean, we have all these plans for the, the, the next season. We were going to go to Hawaii and do the, the, the man of hoonies and the night marchers, which are really freaky spirits of Hawaii. loved it. So it's something I would love to do again. And 9-1-1 Lone Star is, you know, this year even bigger than it was last year. So that's going to be going to be around for a while. But none of it happens without you guys watching it. So fully appreciate it. But yes, start the campaign with the folks at A &E for more low files. Thank you. Thanks for checking in. I'll see you next week here.
59:07Don't forget to give us a five-star review if you're so inclined. And don't forget to download the rest of the series of Literally with me, Rob Lowe. You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced and engineered by me, Rob Schulte. Our coordinating producer is Lisa Berm. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. Our researcher is Alyssa Grawl. Our talent bookers are Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn. And music is by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week on Literally with Rob Lowe.
59:55This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.
From the publisher
It's Halloween season, so we are looking back at Rob's conversation with "Scream" queen Neve Campbell! They talk about Neve's incredible run of 800 Phantom of the Opera performances, how great it has been to grow up acting in the Scream franchise, and the odd instance of Rob and Neve meeting at Stephen Dorff's birthday party.
This episode originally aired in February 2022. Make sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube at YouTube.com/@LiterallyWithRobLowe! Got a question for Rob? Call our voicemail at 323-570-4551. Your question could get featured on the show!
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