Rob Lowe Ranked His Brat Pack Filmography and His #1 Might Surprise You
by Chrissy Stockton · Thought CatalogUpdated 41 minutes ago, September 29, 2026
Rob Lowe just went on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen‘s and played “Plead the Fifth” where he was asked to rank his own Brat Pack filmography.
For anyone unfamiliar with the term: the “Brat Pack” was coined in a 1985 New York Magazine article to describe a group of young rising Hollywood stars (Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, and others) who kept appearing together in coming-of-age films throughout the ’80s. The cast hated the label at first, calling it dismissive, but decades later most of them, Lowe included, have embraced it as a genuine piece of pop culture history. Here’s how he ranked his own five films from the era, worst to best:
5. Class (1983) — his least favorite A comedy-drama about a naive prep school student (Andrew McCarthy) who’s taken under the wing of his worldly, wealthy roommate, Skip (Lowe), only to unknowingly start an affair with an older woman who turns out to be Skip’s mother. It’s a coming-of-age story with real dramatic stakes, but reviews at the time were mixed, and it’s largely remembered today as the film debut of Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, and Virginia Madsen.
4. Oxford Blues (1984) A romantic comedy where Lowe plays a brash Las Vegas hustler who cons his way into Oxford University purely to pursue a wealthy English aristocrat he’s never actually met. It’s lighter and goofier than the other films on this list, playing out more like a fish-out-of-water sports comedy than a serious drama.
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3. The Outsiders (1983) — moved up mid-ranking Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel, following a group of poor “greaser” teens in 1960s Oklahoma caught in an escalating rivalry with a wealthy rival gang. It’s a genuine drama with real emotional weight, and it’s the film that gave Lowe (and future Brat Pack co-stars like Estevez and C. Thomas Howell) his big break.
2. St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) A drama following a tight-knit group of recent college graduates in Washington, D.C. navigating adulthood, careers, and messy relationships for the first time. It’s considered one of the defining Brat Pack ensemble films, and it’s the movie most responsible for cementing the entire cast’s identity as a group.
1. About Last Night… (1986) — his favorite A romantic comedy-drama adapted from a David Mamet play, following two couples navigating the ups and downs of a serious relationship in Chicago after a one-night stand turns into something more. It’s a more mature, adult film than the rest of the list, and clearly the one Lowe looks back on most fondly.
Does his ranking match yours?
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