Jania Ashlynn
The actor had a brief chat with PEOPLE at the premiere of his new Netflix show Unstable about his journey into sobriety. He attributes much of his success in overcoming the addiction to his father, Rob Lowe.
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Getting Clean
“To be completely honest and serious about it, I’m eternally grateful to have supportive parents who were there for me in a moment when I needed help,” he shared.
“And I know a lot of people don’t have that,” he added, “And that makes me sad and also very grateful that I did, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.”
John’s father, Rob, who stars alongside him in Unstable, talked about the experience of supporting his son through recovery.
“I’ve learned so much in my 33 years of recovery,” Rob shared. “But the number one thing I know is, until someone is ready, until they’re ready — not until you’re ready, until they’re ready — it’s not going to happen.”
“So all you can do is try to keep the bumpers up so they don’t make any really bad, tragic mistakes for themselves or anybody else, be there, support them, and when they’re ready, you can show them the path. And when he was ready, that’s what I did,” he added.
Old Habits
Owen recently talked about how his addiction was starting to separate him from his father. He revealed a few details about his drinking habits in an interview with Men’s Health’s April publication.
“Many times I could have died. I really liked to push the limits of my body and numb out as much as I could,” John Owen revealed. “It makes me sad to think about. There’s a certain level of self-doubt, or uncomfortability with one’s self. The more insecure I grew, the more aggressively I used — to medicate.”
