It turns out Rob Lowe has a pretty good sense of humor about one of the worst nights of his career. Back in 1989, the actor was tasked with performing in a truly zany opening number for that year’s Oscars, which featured Lowe performing a parody version of “Proud Mary” with Snow White (played by actress Eileen Bowman). The opening number has since gone down as one of the most embarrassing moments in Oscar history; it also did permanent damage to producer Allan Carr’s career. Lowe, however, was able to move past the humiliation—and now, nearly 30 years later, he’s happily poking fun at it in an interview with The New York Times.
“It’s fitting and proper that we continue to honor the dark and tragic event that befell our nation 30 years later,” Lowe deadpanned, when asked to speak about that infamous opener. “I’m particularly looking forward to the candlelight vigils.”
In the interview, Lowe explained that he said yes to doing the number partly because he was “young and naive,” as well as a huge fan of composer Marvin Hamlisch. He realized that the bit was going south when he looked into the audience during the performance and saw director Barry Levinson, who was being fêted that year for Rain Man.
“I could see him very clearly pop-eyed and mouthing, ‘What the [expletive]?’” Lowe recalled. “But to be a successful actor, you have to have a big dollop of self-denial, so I managed to convince myself that I’d killed it.”
Now Lowe recognizes that doing the number was “a huge mistake. I had always thought the Oscars were a bit of fun escapism for America, where we celebrate and honor the craft of making movies. What I didn’t realize was the grand solemnity and profound seriousness, and the contribution to society at large that the evening represents to a lot of people—and that’s on me. That’s my bad.”
That year marked the last time the Oscars ceremony did not have a host—a fate that seems increasingly likely to strike next year’s ceremony as well, after the Kevin Hart debacle. A host for the 2019 ceremony, which is set for February 24, has still yet to be announced.
When asked if he thought the Oscars learned a lesson from the 1989 ceremony, Lowe opted for a snarky response: “It’s always been a huge relief to me that after Snow White, the Oscars got their act together and avoided any further controversy and embarrassment. By the way, it’s basically a show that nobody wants to do. It’s really sad. But honestly, they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves.”
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