It seems like such a simple reason to fall in love again but for Rob Lowe, it was what reminded him of his love for his wife.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 13, 2020. It has since been updated.
Rob Lowe has his fair share of admirers. After all, the Outsiders actor has been stealing hearts with his good looks, effortless charm, and amazing talent. But there's just one admirer that he has had his eye on for three decades and that is none other than his wife, makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff. Even after 31 years of marriage, the two of them don't look like they're ready to slow down. But let's go back to the beginning.
This couple certainly didn't follow the "love at first sight" format that Hollywood plays on. In 1983, the pair first met on a "half-blind date" wherein prior to the meeting, Berkoff had dated one of Lowe’s closest friends and St. Elmo’s Fire co-star, Emilio Estevez. Incidentally, it was this friend that introduced them. However, nothing happened and the two lost contact for about seven years until they reconnected on the set of the 1990 film Bad Influence, a movie that Lowe starred in and Berkoff was the key makeup artist. That was when Cupid struck and the couple began going out. “I admired her work ethic,” Lowe recalled, according to Heavy. “I admired the way she looks at life.”
But it wasn't easy for them. Lowe, at the time, had been having trouble getting sober. In an interview with Haute Living, the If The Shoe Fits star talked about the significance of his relationship with Berkoff. He said, "I had met my now wife, Sheryl, and was attempting my first try at monogamy — which was not really in my nature at the time — and I wasn't able to do it. It made me examine how I was living my life. That led me to getting sober, which led me to changing my life — giving me everything I now have."
After the Golden Globe nominee decided to change for real, the couple knew that it was time to tie the knot and they married on July 22, 1991. Soon enough, the pair expanded their family, bringing in two sons, Matthew, 26, and John, 24.
Though it's his wife whom the 55-year-old actor credits his sobriety to, it's also his family that helps him stay on the straight and narrow. According to The Closer Weekly, a source close to the Youngblood actor and his wife stated, “Family means absolutely everything to Rob. It’s what’s kept him grounded and sober now for nearly 26 [at the time of the publication] years. It helped Rob organize the priorities in his life.”
As for the secret to a happily married life, Lowe mentioned that they too had their communication problems for which a visit to a couples' therapist was required, but they worked it out. "Half of us don't know how to communicate, and it's only getting worse with texting and all of that. Communication is a huge thing, and we still struggle with it," he said, according to AOL. "Sheryl and I still have somebody we would see if we ever felt like we need it. We do it less and less, but there have been times where we've been seeing someone, and I look forward to it! [...] I always come out of it feeling even more reconnected."
When asked how Berkoff deals with the job that requires him to be intimate on-screen with actresses, he told The Guardian: "Well, listen, we would never have been drawn to each other if she wasn't a great sport and didn't have amazing perspective, and she continues to have that to this day. She's very secure with herself, and that makes it easy for me to go about and do what I do, and sometimes my work calls me to hop into a bed and kiss a pretty girl."
The realization came when the actor's two sons left home, making the couple empty nesters. Though emotional over their leaving, it allowed him to enjoy life again with the woman he loves. According to Today, he recalled, "What’s amazing is I’m looking at my wife going 'I remember you. I used to really like you.' We liked to travel and go to the movies and dinner and talk. All of a sudden, it’s reminding me of what it was like when we were first together. We both have time to fulfill our other destinies and get to know each other in a totally different way."
And his Instagram is filled with proof of that, what with all the pictures he posts of him having fun and being completely smitten with the woman he vowed to love over 28 years ago. Well, here's to many more years together, full of love, respect, and happiness.
References:
https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/03/rob-lowe-wife-sheryl-berkoff/
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/rob-lowe-fatherhood-137225/
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/sep/27/rob-lowe-interview-latest-film
https://www.today.com/parents/rob-lowe-reveals-how-he-reconnected-wife-after-kids-left-t103298
