John Owen Lowe admits having doubts about working with dad in 'Unstable'

Actor John Owen Lowe was not sure about doing the series Unstable with his dad.

Netflix’s “Unstable” premieres March 30, and stars Parks and Recreation actor Rob Lowe and son as estranged father and son Ellis and Jackson. The father and son are also the co-creators of the sitcom.

“Jackson’s estranged from his dad. It never got that bad between my dad and me,” Lowe, 28, told Variety.

“[Jackson is] a little more socially awkward and lost than I am. I did experience pockets where I didn’t have an identity, because of what it was like growing up with a father who sort of sucks the air out of every room you’re in with him.”

“Ellis is a little less tethered to reality than my dad, but it’s not as far off as he would have you think. We would have these moments on set where his character would be complaining about my posture or what I’m wearing. They’d call ‘cut’ and he literally — without breaking concentration — would go, ‘Are they chiseling your chin? I feel like they’re lighting you too harshly. You need more definition on your chin.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, we’re not doing this here, in front of everyone.’ It was very funny, cathartic, but also a little meta at times.”

For Lowe, the parallels between real life and TV led to “a ton of hesitation” about doing the series.

“The show is about a son who wants to get out of his father’s shadow, and I am literally a son who wants to get out of my father’s shadow,” says Lowe, who is an executive producer on the series.

 “I have adopted a new perspective on that, which is, when you’re lost in the forest, sometimes the only way to get out is to go deeper into the forest.”