Tom Cruise went "ballistic" when he discovered he would be sharing a hotel room with Rob Lowe while they were both auditioning for the 1983 film "The Outsiders." Lowe recalled the day in an interview Monday on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast.
The "Parks and Recreation" star said it was the "first time I ever stayed at The Plaza Hotel, and we check-in and Tom finds out that we're sharing a room and just goes ballistic," according to Page Six.
Lowe explained that he and Cruise had made the first round of auditions in Los Angeles and were sent to New York City for the second round when the actor lost his cool.
"I remember going, 'Wow, this guy is the real deal,'" Lowe continued. "I mean it made me laugh, it was gnarly. But in the end of it, you can't argue with the results. He's had his eye on the ball since day one."
The two both landed parts in the film, but even on set Cruise was competitive.
"He ended up being the only one who could do a backflip. It is in the movie 'The Outsiders' for no reason,'" Lowe said. "Just to do it."
The ordeal forced Lowe to see Cruise in a new light.
"To me, what's great about the story is, there's certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today and the rest is history," he said. "And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in 'Endless Love' and like a seventh lede in 'Taps' could have that kind of like wherewithal."