Netflix has officially confirmed that Rob Lowe: The Outsider, the documentary about the actor's life and career, will arrive on the platform on Tuesday, November 24, 2026. The confirmation comes weeks after Lowe himself teased, on two occasions and quite deliberately, that the project was headed to Netflix.
Alongside the documentary, Netflix has also announced that Lowe's popular SiriusXM podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe, will have its own space on the platform, and that the holiday comedy In a Holidaze, which features the actor, will premiere just a few days later.
This is the complete schedule confirmed by Netflix for the three projects related to Rob Lowe:
- Rob Lowe: The Outsider – Tuesday, November 24, 2026
- In a Holidaze – Wednesday, December 2, 2026
- Literally! With Rob Lowe – Thursday, December 3, 2026
All three titles will be available for streaming globally.
What is Rob Lowe: The Outsider about
As reported last month, it was Lowe himself who revealed the existence of the documentary during an appearance on Barstool's Chicks in the Office podcast, noting at the time that the project had not yet been officially announced before mentioning a release date anyway. That date has turned out to be accurate.
The documentary features a big name behind the camera: it is directed by Chris Smith, a filmmaker known to Netflix documentary fans thanks to Fyre, Tiger King, and Sr., his acclaimed 2022 portrait of Robert Downey Sr.
Netflix presents The Outsider as the definitive look at Lowe's life and career, promising to go beyond the most well-known moments of his trajectory to show what it really took to survive in Hollywood and become one of its longest-standing stars. The documentary will retrace his path from his early roles in The Outsiders and St. Elmo's Fire to his Emmy-nominated work in The West Wing, combining new interviews with Lowe and those closest to him with a review of the public and private moments that shaped him.
The title of the documentary itself is a nod to the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film that launched Lowe alongside a cast of future Hollywood stars. The actor has already teased that the documentary will include never-before-seen archival footage, including his original audition for that film.
Rob Lowe: The Outsider is produced by Chris Smith, Sydney Schwartz, and Stacy Smith for Library Films, with Marc Gurvitz, Jon Liebman, and Zoe Rogovin serving as executive producers. Its confirmed runtime is 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Literally! With Rob Lowe comes to Netflix
The biggest surprise of today's announcement is that Lowe's long-running podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe, will also receive its own version on Netflix.
Thanks to a new partnership between SiriusXM, Netflix, and Lowe himself, new video episodes of the podcast, produced by Team Coco, will premiere exclusively on Netflix every Thursday starting December 3. Audio versions will continue to be available through the SiriusXM Podcast Network on standard platforms.
Netflix will also incorporate more than 30 episodes from the show's back catalog, adding to the offer of more than 70 podcasts that the platform already has available in the United States.
The podcast is created and hosted by Lowe, and produced by Sean Doherty of Team Coco, with Sean Calvano as associate producer. Executive producers are Rob Lowe, Nick Liao, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross.
Don’t forget In a Holidaze
Between the two premieres is In a Holidaze, the Netflix holiday romantic comedy based on the bestselling novel by Christina Lauren, a project that has been followed for some time.
The film stars Maddie Ziegler, who plays a directionless twenty-something who gets trapped in a Christmas time loop at the family cabin. Rob Lowe joins her in the cast alongside Graham Phillips and Elias Kacavas. Direction and screenplay are by Tiffany Paulsen, who previously directed Holidate for Netflix. The first images of the film were revealed last week.
Rob Lowe’s relationship with Netflix
These three new projects add to an already established relationship between Rob Lowe and Netflix. The actor debuted on the platform with the holiday romantic comedy Holiday in the Wild in 2019, hosted the special Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! in 2021, starred in the drama Dog Gone in 2023, and co-created with his son John Owen Lowe the comedy series Unstable, starring both, which aired for two seasons before being canceled. He also provided the voice for the documentary Inside the Mind of a Dog in 2024.
Frequently asked questions about Rob Lowe on Netflix
When does Rob Lowe: The Outsider premiere on Netflix?
The documentary Rob Lowe: The Outsider premieres on Netflix on Tuesday, November 24, 2026, globally, with a confirmed runtime of 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Who is directing the documentary Rob Lowe: The Outsider?
The documentary is directed by Chris Smith, a filmmaker recognized for works such as Fyre, Tiger King, and Sr., and produced by Chris Smith, Sydney Schwartz, and Stacy Smith for Library Films.
When does the podcast Literally! With Rob Lowe arrive on Netflix?
New video episodes of Literally! With Rob Lowe will premiere on Netflix every Thursday starting December 3, 2026, in addition to more than 30 episodes from its back catalog.
Are the audio versions of Rob Lowe’s podcast disappearing from SiriusXM?
No. The audio versions of Literally! With Rob Lowe will remain available through the SiriusXM Podcast Network, independent of the arrival of the video episodes on Netflix.
What is the relationship between In a Holidaze and the documentary about Rob Lowe?
In a Holidaze is a film independent of the documentary, although both arrive on Netflix around the same time. It is a holiday romantic comedy starring Maddie Ziegler, with Rob Lowe, Graham Phillips, and Elias Kacavas in the cast, directed by Tiffany Paulsen.
