The on-set fistfight between Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe: “We beat the living shit out of one another”
Throughout the course of cinema, there have been countless tales of hairy moments that happen behind the camera. Film sets are high-stakes environments, and when egos and artistic vision collide, these moments can become the stuff of legend that overshadows the film itself. The genuinely absurd stories that occurred during the shooting of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo instantly come to mind, both films accompanied by brilliant behind-the-scenes documentaries.
However, it’s far less common when it comes to actors breaking out in a full-blown fistfight. But that’s precisely what happened between actors Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, and ironically, it also occurred on a Coppola set. The story behind the incident is a shocking one.
In 1983, Francis Ford Coppola was preparing to shoot his fifteenth picture, the coming-of-age crime drama The Outsiders. The film, an adaptation of a novel of the same name by S.E. Hinton, is about rival gangs in Oklahoma fighting for respect and turf that become embroiled in a bitter feud when one gang member kills someone from the rival gang.
The film boasted a star-studded cast across the board, and Coppola cast Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe in the picture, both lesser-known actors at the time but on their way to becoming household names.
However, an altercation occurred when the two stars were rehearsing for a fight scene. During the staged brawl, Lowe allegedly hit Cruise in the face a little too hard. The punch is said to have agitated Cruise, who retaliated by hitting Lowe for real, which, in turn, led to a genuine brawl between the two actors. Cruise and Lowe were subsequently pulled apart and given time to cool off before carrying on with the rehearsal.
“We all beat the living shit out of one another,” said Lowe about the incident. “We really did. I got one clean shot on Tom, and Tom is such a competitive lunatic – which is what I love about him – but the next thing you know he’s ready to kill me! We were all competitive. It wasn’t just Tom. We were hardcore. But Tom. Listen, he was up for my part and I thought he was going to get it. And Tom’s Tom. He’s a whole lot of guy. It’s like the United States and China right now. If you treat China like a foe surely she will become one. It was all good. But he was the one I was worried about”.
The moment clearly didn’t affect the careers of Cruise or Lowe, who then went on to become massive stars after the film. It also certainly happened during a very different time in cinema. If the same incident were to unfold today, with two up-and-coming stars, it likely wouldn’t just exist as another wild tale that happens when making a movie.
The Outsiders went on to be successful at the box office and was praised by critics. It exists slightly under the radar compared to the rest of Coppola’s filmography, but it’s an excellent film with brilliant performances throughout.
