(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rob Lowe worried people would "beat the sh*t" out of him for liking acting when he was young.

The 47-year-old actor knew he wanted a career in TV and film from a young age. However, many of his peers didn't see acting as a viable life choice so he was constantly worried he was going to be picked on.

Things only changed when he moved to Malibu and found a group of people who liked all the same things as him.

"It was definitely not cool to be different. But in Malibu I uncovered this group of kids who also wanted to be actors. And they just happened to be the Penn brothers and the Sheen brothers," he explained to Esquire magazine.

"And, better, they only lived a few doors down from me. I thought, Wow! Here are people with the same interests that I have. And they're not actually going to beat the living sh*t out of me for having them."

Meeting people like Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Judd Nelson had a profound effect on Rob. He knows people will find it hard to believe as acting is seen as a desirable job nowadays, but it wasn't always that way.

"When I was in Ohio, I was the only person I knew who wanted to be an actor. This is pre, y'know, Glee," he laughed. (C) Cover Media