A family affair! Rob Lowe<\/strong><\/a> and son John Owen Lowe<\/strong> have teamed up on a handful of projects in the past, but their latest collaboration<\/a> \u2014 the new Netflix series Unstable<\/em> \u2014 is their most personal one yet.<\/p>\n \u201cThe story of Unstable<\/em> is really the story of us,\u201d the 9-1-1: Lone Star<\/em><\/a> actor, 59, explained in an exclusive interview in the new issue of Us Weekly<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s a story about a dad trying to love and support his son through everything, and his son putting up a little bit of a fight. That is a story that almost every parent and child can relate to, and of course Johnny came in and made it all very hysterical.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stanford University graduate, 27, has been open about how dad has been a major source of support for him as he dealt with addiction. Earlier this month, the Parks and Recreation<\/em><\/a> alum presented his son with his five-year sobriety chip during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Rob and John Owen previously starred together in Holiday in the Wild<\/em> and The Grinder<\/em><\/a>, and John Owen has written multiple episodes of his dad\u2019s show 9-1-1: Lone Star<\/em>. For Unstable<\/em>, though, they mined more of their personal experience than they have in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cStepping into this role was more work and more emotionally draining than I ever thought it would be, but that is what made it so special,\u201d John Owen told Us<\/em>. \u201cThe more of myself I poured into the show, the more I got out of it for myself. Oh, and having my dad there helped, or sometimes didn\u2019t, but either way, I had a lot of support.\u201d<\/p>\n In the new series, the St. Elmo\u2019s Fire<\/em> star plays Ellis Dragon, the eccentric CEO of a biotech company. John Owen stars as Ellis\u2019 son, Jackson, who goes to work for his father\u2019s business in order to help him cope with the death of his wife.<\/p>\n \u201cEllis is a very exaggerated version of me in some ways, but I very much hope I am a little more stable,\u201d quipped Rob, who shares John Owen and son Matthew, 29, with wife Sheryl Berkoff<\/strong>. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done this show without the other, in every way. There\u2019s no way I was going to do a father-son show and not have my son there.\u201d<\/p>\n John Owen \u2014 who cocreated the comedy with his dad and Victor Fresco<\/strong> \u2014 said that the idea for Unstable<\/em> has been \u201cbrewing\u201d since he worked on 9-1-1: Lone Star<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like I was constantly in my dad\u2019s shadow,\u201d the Grace Point<\/em> star explained. \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to when he is the star of the show and a producer. When I told people about what I was experiencing, I found that a lot of people could relate to exactly the feeling I was having.\u201d<\/p>\n The screenwriter mined that experience for the series, which debuted on Netflix last month. \u201cI really had to lean into that feeling all the way,\u201d John Owen told Us<\/em>. \u201cDiving deeper into this and then turning it into comedy was more healing than I ever imagined it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n Rob, for his part, is thrilled with the way the project turned out \u2014 and he credits much of its success to his son. \u201cJohn Owen spent so much of his life in writers\u2019 rooms and on set, and this was the time in his life when he was really ready to carry a show of this caliber,\u201d the Virginia native gushed. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Dads](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Dads-Shadow-to-Unstable-Rob-Lowe-and-Son-John-Owen-Break-Down-New-Healing-Series-009.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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