One on One: Todd Lowe

I Am all In You.

I Am all In with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast.

Everybody Scott Patterson one on one interview with Todd Lowe. He played Zach for forty two episodes two thousand and two two thousand and seven. First appearance was a season three episode four One's Got Class, The Other One Dies dye as his last appearance season seven episode twenty two, Bond by Age. He also appeared in three episodes of A Year in the Life, Winter, Spring, and Summer. His character Zach first appeared season three along with Brian and Dave.

I worked as I was.

I went to I grew up in Texas, and I went to school at the University of Texas in Austin, and I did a lot of museum education as a side hustle. And there was one time when I was asked to substitute in at a monasory school, and I had no training as into the monassory education disciplines. So I basically found myself just like a babysitter, trying not to say the word no because it's a different type

Okay, So what was the role that got you out of teaching?

Well? Help it was well.

First of all, what got me out of Austin was love because my girlfriend at the time got accepted into USC for grad school.

I had booked a.

Couple little jobs in Texas and was SAG eligible, and it made sense to come to La with her. We didn't last very long and I came out here. I worked at the Children's Museum of Los Angeles. Then they kind of knew that I had aspirations of being an actor. I got cast in a play at South Coast Repertory in Orange County and went down there. I got my equity card exposure to a better agent, which signed me, and then I was living on unemployment two week and

No, I didn't know anything about Gilmore Girls, and.

My agent wisely steered me.

It's like, no, I think you want to do this Gilmore Girls show, and there's going to be a few more appearances, and then bam it turned into like forty five episodes and kind of got my career going.

What did your agent tell you about the show that was so special about it that you had to do it?

They said, it's the comedy. The pacing is very unique. It lends itself to actors who have had stage work with the memorizations and the rhythm of the dialogue, and actors who have had a little bit of stage work maybe tend to do a little better on that show. And I thought, he said, I think it suits your skill set as opposed to just being some bad guy or junkie or whatever the hell the role was on in my PD Blue And yeah, wisely it turned out off for the best.

I tell you, we're getting into season five. We we're ten episodes into season five, and you're finally getting some really juicy stuff to do with Lane. You know, the relationship is becoming really interesting. You're able to show different colors and it's really riveting.

Oh that's good. Fortunately for me, Adam Brody Dave Rigowski got.

A bigger job with a on another show, So I guess I was next in line. I think because he was slated to be Lane's love interests and then fell into my lap and lucky me.

Big shoes to fill for sure. And we have we have noted that as as the chemistry was coming together between between Zach and Lane, and now it's really blossomed where we're just loving what you're doing. Now, you know, your skills as an actor are really coming to the four, not that they weren't before, but now it's like there's this other side to Zach, this vulnerable side, which is fascinating.

And oh of course.

I mean I think every actor when we get a script, we immediately flip to where's my where's my character's Then I mean, I'll read the whole episode after.

I go through all my stuff.

But I'm seeing, oh, I'm liking Lane with their glasses and there's going to be a kiss, and yeah, that's just it's just delicious. I got something new to go there. I mean, Zach's kind of adult and I sometimes I maybe I made some easy choices, just making them a little dim and but and the writers found my voice and my rhythms and my cadence, so it wasn't a difficult second.

Skin to step into and put on.

It.

Just it fit and then you can speak honestly and emotionally. And then I thought Kiko and I had a pretty nice chemistry. And I'm glad to hear that some people think it came across on the screen.

Oh it really does. And I hear you judging your character and your work describing him as adult. He I'll tell you, from my point of view and our point of view, the comedy really pomped because of that choice.

Uh huh.

So I wouldn't question it. I thought it was actually kind of brilliant. And I think by making him that way, now this other side that's coming out is so surprising and it is fun. It's so much fun to watch. Now we're all like, we need more Zach and Lane. And I'm sitting here questioning what took them so long? And Why didn't they use you? They know you, they know you have chops, they know you could pull it off. Why didn't they use you? Know your character could have

It could have?

You could have, You could have and should have had as much work to do as Lane. You know what I mean? I mean, did you ever Here's a question I already know the answer to, but I'm gonna ask you anyway. Did you ever approach producers and say, hey, I'd love some more. What do you think? Did you ever feel like you could contribute more and wanted to and said that to producers because I think the show really benefits from it.

I certainly felt that, but I didn't want to stir any feathers and ruffle any feathers.

And stir the pots and be a squeaky wheel. I was grateful to what they.

Gave me, and Amy and her staff like they did. It built for a while, but it was I did get a lot to contribute, and the music stuff was fun to do, and getting together with Helen Pie and having band rehearsals and learning what song we were going to do that week, and I can play the guitar a little bit, so I got to use that skill. And I'm no, I didn't go and ask them. I didn't have that kind of confidence to say, hey, right for me more.

I'm just I was just grateful to be on the show.

Right. What's happening now between Zach and Lane is terrific. It's it's as entertaining and as funny as anything that's been on that show.

How good.

It's shocking. It's really shocking that they laid off the gas on that character for so long and now look what it's producing. Is I I hope there's more of it. I don't know. I've never seen the series, so I'm watching it for the first time each time, and then we're doing a podcast about it. But I hope there's more. Don't tell me. I don't want to. I don't want this surprise to be ruined.

Okay, I didn't know that.

You were so uninformed, Scott, incredibly uninformed when it comes to this show.

Well, it's like, you know, I was doing it all the time. I didn't want to go home and watch it, right, you know what I mean?

You had longer hours than I did, and I can understand getting figged right.

I just I just needed to get away from it. You know, it's just like recharge. So you've been well. No, actually, let's talk about the auditioning process. Do you tell me about the audition and did you know once you got it that Zach would be a long standing character.

No.

What I remember from the audition is I came in.

They wanted a guitar and they wanted me to sing, just do any kind of performance with a guitar. So I was playing in a little kind of a comedy band where we were this German pop band and we were playing just at clubs in Hollywood, and I had translated a pixie song which is where Is My Mind? And I translated it into German in a very bad kind of broken German, but enough to where the cadence

And I don't know. I think I sang a Smith song or something.

And they said thank you, and then I don't know, a few hours later, I got a call and it's you love to get those calls.

It's like be there on Thursday.

Wait a minute, So you translated a Pixie song into German.

I had already had that in my pocket and was performing.

It and and what and can you give us just a brief sample of it if you can remember anything?

Yeah, him on trick on being nice. Yeah, then climb and fish bumping to me. Yeah, I'm a cross, try to wait? Wait wait? Bo is Mine cult? Where is my mind? Oh? Is mine Cult? That was the song?

Yeah, And you would perform this live, yeah, with a band with a band, and people.

Would love it.

The audience was Yeah, they were in on the joke and they loved it. And I playing a.

Little bar band right now, and it's still in the set list.

Oh, that's wonderful. That's really good stuff. It's well, yeah, let's talk about those bands. You've been a part of a couple different bands, so that made Zach and easy fit for you. Tell us a little bit about the band you're playing in, right, Oh.

I've been playing in different bar bands. It's not my first pursuit. My first pursuit is an actor, and I have a little bit of not contempt, but I certainly don't want to go see some actors band.

I don't care how good Kevin Bacon's band is.

I'd rather see Kevin Bacon in a movie and if it's there, I'll sit and watch, but I don't really want to pay a ticket. And same thing with Billy Bob Thornton Keanu Reeves is like, I like you guys doing that.

Don't be a rock star?

You know what? You know what I found, I so agree with you. I can't agree with you more because I saw I was so curious about Billy Bob Thornton's band, and I watched a couple of videos and he made he made actual videos that were, like, you know, pretty good production value. They spent some money on his videos. And the band's great and the music great. He's not a front man. He's got no energy. I'm sorry. I mean,

You know.

Well, those guys have the cachet to go out and hire the best sidement in the business, right and to cover their expenses. It can be a vanity project. But I don't have pockets thater that deep. I'm fortunate to have good friends that are really talented.

Right. So have you ever seen an actor or an entertainment personality that was a good front person?

Well, Jamie Fox is at.

He did.

Usually it's the musician. What a surprised when they give a good acting performance. I can say Dwight Yoakam in Sling Play, He's amazing.

It was.

It was really chilling us.

And that's when we appreciate more. Like I'm sure Keanu Reeves band is awesome, but he but.

He was smart enough to stand off to the side. Oh yeah, plays the base, which is like exactly what I was telling my crew. I said, I can't be the front guy. Yeah, I'm not a good enough singer and I don't have that thing that you need to be like a great singer, which is a great voice. You know, I don't have that. I have to work

Yeah.

Yeah, but some actors have done. I mean I think j Loo has done pretty well.

Right. Does she start as an actor? She started as a fly girl.

She started as a dance she's a triple threat. Yeah, singing, dancing, acting, right, Yeah, so she's had a big career. She's good at that. I mean, I could talk all day about this. Let's speaking of frontmen that have that thing. Sebastian Bach has that thing. Yes, that is a bona fide front man. Yes, who stands in front of a band can scream into a microphone and sound incredible, right, I mean that guy can bring the house down. So you got to work

Like, oh, well, I'm going to try to keep it PG. I do remember It's like what Sebastian Bach. It's that guy who I saw when I was fifteen years old at the summit in Houston, skin Roll opening up for bon Jovi.

And he came in.

He had one scene where he's supposed to be a guitarist in the band, right, and he all those years in rock and roll, he's not a guitarist.

He's a singer.

And he had the most difficult time just getting his electric guitar, unplugging the guitar cable and then putting it into a case, and just it kind of had to happen quickly in that Gilmore girls rhy him and we're all leaving the room and just like it was like a monkey with a puzzle putting in the stars in a circular hole.

He just couldn't figure out how to put that guitar in the case.

And John and I were just snickering and he's like and then he you know, starts cursing. He gets frustrated, and eighties like, it's okay, we'll get it in the cutaway.

We don't have to show you. And you know, I wouldn't know what I look at it, him know what I'm doing.

And but he was such a warm, gregarious personality.

I really can't say a bad thing about that guy. I'm proud to have shared screen with him.

I'm proud of gone out to the Rainbow with him.

That's as close as I've ever been to crazy rock starred him.

I had the same experience. I went to the Rainbow with him. It was it was fun.

What a night we all we I don't know if you were there that night, but it was one of the early ones.

And then of course that's his kingdom.

And for those who are listening, the Rainbow Room is this rock and roll, heavy metal club on on Sunset Strip.

And we sat down.

They bring us to a really nice table and let's everybody watch pizza pizza and uh yeah, what you like on your pizza? And it's like pepperoni and oh here comes Ron Jeremy over to say hello.

Oh man, he uh yeah, I mean just.

High fives all around, always about the high five.

That's an entire two hour podcast in and of it. Yeah, I should actually do a podcast based on him. Amazing character. How long has it been since you watched your episode back? Did you watch any of these episodes before you came on or you're just like.

No, occasionally somebody will send me. I stumbled across a YouTube clip of there's a scene of the diner.

I don't know if you've gotten to it in your viewing, but well, there's the proposal, I have the lane, which is a really sweet scene. And then there's another scene where I hear that I like her better with her glasses on, and I thought, oh, I kind of handled that well.

That scene went well. If but I get too self conscious.

If Gilmore Girls is playing on someone's TV, it's.

Like, oh, I gotta get squirmy and leave the room.

Just I don't want to see myselvan right right, right right.

I was thinking before this little video podcast, I was going to have it on in the background on the TV behind me.

It's like, oh, I just play it all the time, right, just so in the rare chance that'll get more residuals. It just it's always.

Playing right right. So we recapped the parties over. Okay, it's a little bit ago, but as one of the scene where missus Kim is screaming at you at the new stand, what do you remember about filming that scene with Emily Corota, because that was I loved you in that scene, because you had a job to do in that scene, which was to be, you know, to react to what she was doing, and it was just really funny.

Catch me up. What was she chastising me about?

I think just the fact that you were dating Lane, okay, and I somehow she found out, I think. And you were at the news stand and there was that guy, that young guy. Uh oh, and the guy was yelling at you because you come to the new stand and you read, but you don't pay for it, okay, okay, okay. And then Emily Grooda comes up and just just drills you, you know, just a surprise attack, and you just you just turn and you're so befuddled and flustered.

And is that the episode She says, Well, if she's going to be dating you, we need to improve your songwriting or whatever.

I don't.

I don't think that's it.

Okay.

I don't think we've gotten there yet.

Okay.

It was just an all out of assault on Zach in public. I mean, she just unloaded both barrels on you, called you a dog from hell, and you know all kinds of things, and that when you go to hell, the dogs of Hell will be eating your guts and things like that, hell hounds, we're gonna get you and the whole thing.

Okay, it's starting to trigger memory.

And oh no, no, And it led to the funniest dialogue and the funniest scene because you were like you had a conversation with Lane after that at back at your apartment saying, you know, this isn't rock and roll, man, I mean, I don't do this.

You know.

It's like I get I get the chicks and I do music. I don't like do moms or you know, yelling at me in the street, you know, this kind of a thing. And it was we were crying. We were laughing so hard.

Oh I've got to catch up on that.

Oh yeah, brilliance, absolute todd low brilliance.

Oh thank you for the compliments.

Great stuff.

I don't quite remember that moment. Oh god, I'll take another one.

How could you not? I mean it was a crowning achievement in comedic acting. So okay, so we're at the beginning stage of Zach and Leake's relationship. Finally, it's it's bubbling up a little bit. But they they recently had a first date and kissed. Were you excited? Uh, they were gonna make Zach Lane's boyfriend. Did you know of their plans? Did you? Did they hint to you that this was going to happen?

No. I did a little bit of the math myself, because I knew the hell and Pie and her actual husband and he played behind the curtain in Pat Bailey and he played the bass for John. His name was Dave Rigalski, and so I kind of did the math.

It's like, well, I think the character a Lane.

It's based on Amy's childhood friend, who is a Korean American and a Seventh Day Adventist. He's dating this boy named David Galaski.

He left.

I honestly thought, well, they're going to bring another young guy in here to be Lane's fella. And then it started to fall to me and it's like, yes, just like this pump and oh there's a kiss when they wrote it so well, because the first kiss happens when I'm actually holding John on my shoulder putting into bed.

To think he did he have too much to drink or something, or why he was out?

Oh wait, a minute. Yeah, I guess that's right.

Yes, we were just watching a video or something. He fell asleep.

We told him to go to her room, and he fell asleep in her bed. That's right, that's what happened, because you guys were on a date in the living room.

Yeah, a date where my best bud is also in the house.

Yeah, that's there, and we were kind of Marveling's like that you picked him up and hoisted him over your shoulder and carried him out. I mean, but he wasn't that heavy, was he. No, John's he's like one hundred and twenty pounds or something. He's really He's really not heavy.

Yeah, it wasn't taxing at the time. I wouldn't want to try it now.

But well, so what's your opinion? What is your personal opinion? You think lack? Does Zach and Lane make a good couple?

I do, just because I have a stake in it.

I know the Internet shippers somem aren't that big of a fan of Zach and Lane, and I can appreciate that perspective.

And it's like, well, tough business. That's the way it inded out it was written. Yeah, maybe I wasn't the greatest. But uh, but.

She got Zack out of his little philandering and he eventually he became sweet to her and he cared about her. And then.

Uh, when they go to Mexico for their.

Honeymoon and to consummate the marriage that they wrote it and it wasn't that great, and she gets pregnant on the first.

I'm I'm taking my headphones off. I can't. I haven't seen it yet. You're giving me spoilers. Okay, I'm gonna try to somehow forget about that anyway. All right, so listen, you come back. We got to do a part two. Okay, Oh I'd love to.

This half hour just flew by. So you can find me on the socials if you just look hard enough.

I'm there.

You got it, man, you got it, and go seex Za's band, Zach's Man, Todd's band.

Uh.

Well you guys playing somewhere locally la soon. Yeah.

We're called t Low and Friends. T Low for Todd Low, t Low and Friends. You can you can find us.

Okay, cool, All the best, my friend, all right.

Thanks, Scott, all the best, all right, dot.

Hey everybody, and don't forget follow us on Instagram at I am all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com. Oh you're Gilmore friends. If you're looking for the best cup of coffee in the world, go to my website from my company, Scottip dot com, s C O T. T y P dot com, Scottip dot com Grade one Specialty Coffee