25 favorite ’80s and ’90s teenage heartthrobs and what they’re doing now
By Sundi Rose
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Rob Lowe
What made him a heartthrob: Sodapop Curtis will, forever and always, be our favorite greaser. As part of the poor kid gang in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, Lowe brought the character to life with lots of personality and heart. In a group that included Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez, to say that he was the most handsome of the bunch is really saying something huge.
Rob Lowe looks almost exactly like he did when the movie premiered in 1983 due to a (probable) pact with Satan himself. He continues to be a heartthrob to this very day. He also went on to star a classic of the decade, St. Elmo’s Fire, which I’ve already avowed as my favorite.
What he’s doing now: As one of the most handsome men to ever have a jawline, Rob Lowe can do anything he wants and we would all still eat him up with a spoon. That explains why we’re watching him chase down Bigfoot in the A&E show he shares with his sons, The Lowe Files.
If you like your Lowe a little more on the melodramatic side, you can watch him on the CBS medical drama, Code Black, co-starring Marcia Gay Harden.
Rob at his best: There will never be anything better than watching Rob Lowe ooze adolescent testosterone alongside the hunkiest of his generation in The Outsiders. I stand by that, all day. There’s also Lowe’s political side as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing. He also starred alongside Fred Savage in a woefully underappreciated FOX sitcom, The Grinder. It’s hilarious and smart, and you should absolutely watch all 22 episodes on Hulu.