Rob Lowe recalls how a young Tom Cruise 'went ballistic' when they had to share a hotel room

Rob Lowe has recalled how Tom Cruise 'went ballistic' after he was told the pair would be sharing a hotel room during the audition process for cult movie The Outsiders.

Cruise played Steve Randle in the 1983 movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and packed with future stars like Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon.

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But despite it being the Top Gun star's third movie, it didn't stop him pulling out some diva-ish behaviour.

Appearing on Dax Shephard's podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Lowe said: “All of the L.A. people survived the L.A. auditions, and then the hand-picked people had to go to New York to face the New York version; so it was me and Tom Cruise and Emilio and C. Thomas Howell.

Adding that it was the first time that he'd stayed in the famous Plaza Hotel in New York, he went on: “We check-in and Tom finds out that we're sharing a room and just goes ballistic. I mean it made me laugh, it was gnarly.

“To me, what's great about the story is, there's certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today and the rest is history.

“And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in Endless Love and like a seventh lead in Taps could have that kind of like wherewithal. I remember going, 'Wow, this guy is the real deal'.

“He's had his eye on the ball since day one.”

The coming-of-age drama, set in the 60s, was a springboard for a host of stars.

Alongside Cruise, Lowe, Swayze and Dillon were Karate Kid's Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane, while Nicolas Cage and Melanie Griffith appeared in uncredited walk-on roles.