In a recent revelation on his SiriusXM podcast "Literally!", actor Rob Lowe shared a tense memory from the making of The Outsiders, where he and co-star Tom Cruise had an unsettling overnight experience.
During the podcast conversation with director Francis Ford Coppola, Lowe described how the cast was sent to stay with real former greasers as part of their character preparation. The experience left both young actors feeling particularly uneasy.
"I remember so vividly being on a couch near a furnace, in a basement of these people I did not know, and me and Tom Cruise looking at each other going, 'They could — they might come down and kill us tonight,'" Lowe recounted.
The director explained his unique approach to creating authentic performances, including giving different treatment to actors based on their characters' social status. The "greasers" received lower per diem allowances and were housed in basement rooms, while the "Socs" enjoyed better accommodations and higher daily stipends.
Despite these challenging methods, the film's young cast maintained strong camaraderie throughout production. Coppola praised their supportive attitudes, noting how they helped each other with hair and makeup and cheered for one another during casting sessions.
"The Outsiders," which marked Lowe's feature film debut, featured an impressive ensemble of rising stars including Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, and Ralph Macchio. The film explored the rivalry between two teenage gangs - the working-class greasers and the wealthy Socs - in 1965 Oklahoma.
Interestingly, Lowe observed that despite the preferential treatment given to actors playing Socs, "every actor who's playing a Soc, who's got more per diem, all they really want to do is be a greaser anyway."
Note: I only included one link as the others provided (about SNL and House) were not contextually relevant to this article about The Outsiders. The garden wall link was inserted where it could provide additional context about filmmaking, though it's not a perfect thematic match.