To Film Wayne's World, Rob Lowe Had To Abandon His Honeymoon
The villain in Penelope Spheeris' 1992 comedy hit "Wayne's World" was clearly minted in his era. Rob Lowe plays a character named Benjamin who seeks to turn the heroes' local cable access show into a slick, well-advertised, commercial entertainment. Benjamin, possessed of few scruples, sees nothing wrong with building new sets, bringing in high-tech toys, and requiring Wayne and Garth (Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey) to interview the show's biggest sponsor. Wayne and Garth are getting a great deal of money to expand their show and their show's audience, but they resent that they have to sell out in order to do it.
For those born after, say, 1990, "selling out" was once considered among Generation X's most grievous mortal sins. Making antiestablishment art in a basement while barely scraping by financially was the morally upright thing to do, while allowing a corporation to pay you for compromise was punishable by excommunication from GenX. Yuppies were to be rejected, and angry deconstruction was welcome. This is a concept many Millennials cannot accept, as surely getting paid is the preferable path?
And who better to play a villainous yuppie than a member of the notorious Brat Pack, a teen raised during the Reagan administration, but now buying into capitalist dreams? Lowe was uncanny casting, not just because of his humor and talent, but because of his age and particular niche of fame.
In 2022, upon the film's 30th anniversary, Lowe looked back on his role in "Wayne's World" in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. The actor recalled that, while he was happy to play Benjamin, he actually had to cut his honeymoon short to do it.
The smarmy guy
Rob Lowe married his wife Sheryl Berkoff in 1991. According to an online biography, the two first went out on a blind date when they were teens, and then met again years later while Lowe was filming his 1990 thriller "Bad Influence." Lowe was in a period of healing in 1990, having just entered Alcoholics Anonymous and smarting from a well-publicized sex scandal. The actor, impressively, retained his sobriety, was open about the scandal — he poked fun at himself on "Saturday Night Live" and appeared in 2014's "Sex Tape" — and married Berkoff, his wife to this day.
The start of their marriage was interrupted, however. Lowe recalled getting a call from "Wayne's World" producer Lorne Michaels when he was only minutes away from getting married. In Lowe's words:
"I get a phone call from Lorne Michaels. He says, 'I need you to come to this dinner with the studio to talk about 'Wayne's World.' [...] And I said, 'Lorne, I am getting married right now. I am in my tuxedo. I am on my way to the venue.' So then he said, 'Oh, so you coming for dessert is out of the question?'"
Quite. Lowe got married and went off on his honeymoon. The vacation was short. Somehow, Michaels had tracked down where he and Berkoff were staying, letting the actor know that his gig was about to start. That meant an immediate flight back to Los Angeles:
"I got a fax when I arrived at my honeymoon, and then I got faxed from Paramount saying my deal had closed on 'Wayne's World,' and I needed to come home immediately. [...] I never went on my honeymoon because I came back and shot 'Wayne's World.'"
"Wayne's World" was a smart career move, but, dangit, no honeymoon?