Rob Lowe In 'Knife Fight': 'West Wing' Star Gets Political Again

The old phrase is that Washington, DC is Hollywood for ugly people. Rob Lowe made a career in bridging that gap; he spent years glamming up DC in Hollywood -- and now, he's set to make pretty the ugly side of politics once again.

The former "West Wing" and "Brothers & Sisters," star will star in "Knife Fight," Deadline reports, a film "about the dark side of political operatives." Scheduled for release at the apex of the 2012 election season, the film will put Lowe back in the national political scene once again; he currently plays an abnormally chipper town government official on the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation."

And while "The West Wing," for which Lowe was nominated for an Emmy, was ultimately about a hopeful core of idealistic government employees, "Knife Fight" won't quite be as touching of a look at the political meat grinder.

It's been a busy few months for Lowe; he's been touring in support of his memoir, "Stories I Only Tell My Friends," which has led to him speaking openly about the 1990 rehab stint that changed his life.

He's also gotten a bit political, Hollywood awards show style, surprising some people when he submitted his name for consideration for a nomination for the Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy, despite being the member of a very ensemble cast at "Parks and Rec."

For more on his new film, click over to Deadline.

Comments

[Ninja749]

04:47 AM on 05/16/2011

Go Parks! The Snakehole looks like a blast!

[MikeDu]

02:16 PM on 05/15/2011

He was also a politician in Brothers and Sisters, and he was a government bureaucrat in Parks & Recreation? How can he 'return' to political roles if he never left?

[PedroLeon]

03:21 AM on 05/15/2011

Rob Lowe is hilarious on Parks and Rec. He is "literally" the second funniest character. Ron Swanson is the funniest.

[jeplanet]

08:09 PM on 05/15/2011

I love him too; and that show is awesome!
But he's definitely no "lead actor" on P&R, I'm surprised he would submit his name for that.

[realitybase]

09:13 AM on 05/14/2011

Rob cracks me up in Parks and Rec.

[92102]

05:22 AM on 05/14/2011

Jed Bartlett for President.

[tulsey]

06:23 PM on 05/14/2011

Charlie for Sec Def, Let's rock!

[WRPrintz]

09:44 PM on 05/13/2011

I personally, have no problem with him being considered for an Emmy in Parks. He is excellent. So is the entire cast.

[susie1776]

04:59 PM on 05/13/2011

The West Wing is my favorite TV series of all time and I thought Rob Lowe was terrific in it. Was always disappointed that he chose to leave the way he did. Hope the movie is a success.

[MaryJane]

12:12 AM on 05/14/2011

Our too. We watch the whole series at least once a year. Aaron Sorkin is an excellent and witty writer.

[tulsey]

06:47 PM on 05/14/2011

Unfortunately as good as he was in that role, he is a shallow minded self professed Ayn Rand groupie.

[ethiopia1a]

04:46 PM on 05/13/2011

hello handsome..

[HighDesertBob]

02:22 PM on 05/13/2011

Interestingly, the original premise of the West Wing was to showcase the staff and have the President only in occasional scenes, with Rob Lowe as the central character. But the popularity of Marin Sheen and his character led to him being on camera more and more and then he became the central character.
I really enjoyed the program. The writing and the acting were well above average.

[cybolt]

03:37 PM on 05/13/2011

Well, continuing that narrative, Lowe got into a contract dispute over camera time and money. His salary, initially the highest with Sheen, has remained static while Sheen's quadrupled - to about $300,000/episode. Further, his several other castmates had renogiated and were making the same amount as he was ($75K).

And he no like.

[HighDesertBob]

04:14 PM on 05/13/2011

Yeah, I remember that. It led to his departure, a bad move on his part, I thought at the time. There were too many brat pack clones to choose from to replace him. Hope this new venture works out for him.

[edn]

12:29 PM on 05/14/2011

He mentions this time of his life in his book and it seems there was more at play - on both sides - than money.

[cameron d]

01:56 PM on 05/13/2011

I wish they could just make more episodes of the West Wing instead. That was easily the best network drama of the decade.

[cybolt]

03:38 PM on 05/13/2011

Well, you'd certainly get an argument from fans of The Sopranos.

[BVictor1]

04:10 PM on 05/13/2011

That was a cable drama not a network one...

[Libby123]

04:42 PM on 05/13/2011

Ugh! Yecch!
As an American of Italian descent who comes from an entire family of Americans of Italian descent, I can attest that I have never heard a real Italian person say, "bada-bing" nor do I know any who wear track suits in public.

I consider myself fluent in English and yet I find no words which can accurately describe the depth of my hatred and annoyance at the image which that stupid show put forth.

[Libby123]

04:35 PM on 05/13/2011

I'm with you there. Wouldn't a Where-Are-They-Now movie be great? I'd love to see what happened to CJ and Danny, did Charlie start his own firm, how did President Santos' administration do, did Josh and Donna crash and burn, how President Bartlet and Abby are coping with MS.

[Lilly rose]

09:50 PM on 05/13/2011

Agree! I'd like to know all that too.

[TeeSC]

01:46 PM on 05/13/2011

Where you lead... I will follow... :-)

[maggiee]

01:45 PM on 05/13/2011

I love the West Wing and I really love Rob Lowe in Parks and Rec. He's hysterical.

[BJD44]

01:23 PM on 05/13/2011

************************************************************

This sounds awesome! I'll go see it for sure!!
Yea!!!!!!!!!!

************************************************************

[Flor Arellano]

12:27 PM on 05/13/2011

The West Wing was one of the greatest shows ever. Wish they made a movie or something.

[ming099]

01:07 PM on 05/13/2011

....they did.... 'The American President'....Michael Douglas, Annette Benning....came out about two years before TWW. I think Sorkin wrote that too.....Martin Sheen was Chief of Staff...and Joshua Malina was in it too......I think Malina has been in everything Sorkin wrote...

[Lat24]

02:04 PM on 05/13/2011

"The American President" came out in 1995 with "The West Wing" in Sept, 1999. Both were written by Mr. Sorkin. If you look closely to the West Wing pilot and a few of the very early episodes, you will notice that furniture, rugs, lights, etc are quite similar ..... insofar as they borrowed them from the movie! "The American President" was charming, romantic and very pleasant entertainment. "The West Wing" was witty, literate and, most of all, hopeful. Thank You Mr. Sorkin.

[cybolt]

03:49 PM on 05/13/2011

Sorkin did write American President and from what i remember, the studio had spent a ton of money on the realistic WH sets for it. Rather than try to store them or destroy them, they asked Sorkin if he would be willing to noodle around with a TV script based loosely on the movie.

Of course Sorkin's original idea was to have the show be about the staff members, most prominently, Rob Lowe. But Sheen's President proved so likeable in cameos, the emphasis shifted and he quickly became the lead.

Kind of funny that Sheen played the CoS in the movie. Oh yeah, and Anna Deveare Smith was in the movie also.

[provgrays1]

12:22 PM on 05/13/2011

Is there a light side of political operatives?

[tulsey]

03:10 PM on 05/13/2011

I think Karl Rove and Micharl Steele are hy-larious.

[carolr51]

05:47 PM on 05/14/2011

I agree Michael Steele is hilarious, but Rove is just too evil to be funny.

[MaryJane]

12:19 AM on 05/14/2011

Sure, but you've got to look long and hard.