Warren Beatty Stole Rob Lowe's Girlfriend and 6 Other Juicy Tidbits From 'Love Life'

Rob Lowe's almost affair with Madonna in the '80s isn't the only juicy morsel in his new book.

[Related: Rob Lowe and Madonna Like Totally Could Have Been the Hottest '80s Couple Ever]

The "Parks and Recreation" alum has been a true Hollywood survivor, navigating the ups (like his recent Golden Globes nomination for "Behind the Candelabra") and downs (that, um, sex tape scandal) thrown his way since making his movie debut in 1983's "The Outsiders." The Brat Packer with the amazing hair has stories to spill and doesn't hold back in his second book, "Love Life."

While much of the memoir includes sweet stories about his bonds with two teenage sons and solid relationship with his wife of 22 years, Sheryl, he also does some serious dishing on his co-stars (singer Jewel isn't remembered fondly), antics from his bachelor days (like a trip to the Playboy Mansion), and an awkward moment he had with Prince William and Kate.

[Related: 7 Reasons Why Rob Lowe Is the Ultimate '80s Icon]

1. Warren Beatty stole his girlfriend. One of Lowe's early gal pals knew the Oscar winner -- she often hung out at his Mulholland Drive house -- and invited Lowe to his house one night for a double date. While Beatty was hospitable and friendly, it became obvious to Lowe, who was 18 at the time, that he was a third wheel when his girlfriend disappeared with the "Heaven Can Wait" star and the other woman. Young and clueless, Lowe didn't get what was going on until Beatty recalled a conversation he had years earlier with Natalie Wood about Frank Sinatra.

"'Natalie was always getting asked by Frank Sinatra to come up to his house and lay by the pool,'" Lowe recalled Beatty saying. "'I never paid much attention to it, but years later, just a few years before Natalie died, I asked her, 'Hey, we're both adults now, what exactly were you'd doing all those days at Sinatra's?' And she looked me right in the eyes and said, 'Oh Warren, what do you think we were doing? We were f--king.'"

After Beatty told that story, he looked Rob in the eye and asked, "Isn't that funny?"

Lowe said he glanced at his girlfriend, "who looked away ashen faced ... and the penny dropped. Thanks for the heads-up, Warren Beatty. You're my hero to this day."

2. Jewel was not his favorite on-screen love interest. Lowe said he was excited to have the folk singer as a co-star on his short-lived series, "The Lyon's Den," in 2003, but she was inexperienced in acting and made their kissing scene (not even a full love scene) extremely uncomfortable. Not only did she ask the director to have the kiss cut from the scene (she was told no), but she brought her then-boyfriend, Ty Murray, to the set for the first time that day.

"Jewel didn't want to kiss me. She asked if we could restage the scene without it," he recalled. After she was turned down, she "balked and ran to the monitor, where she jumped on her boyfriend's lap. She began kissing him instead. I was beginning to take it personally. I checked my breath; it seemed okay to me, but I popped an Altoid to be safe."

She finally came around and they did the kiss, which he described as "less 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and more 'Grey Gardens."

"By that I mean confusing, a little scary and very slow," the "West Wing" alum said. "I sort of moved my head from side to side to make it look real, like there was at least a dollop of energy or passion." And when the scene ended, "Jewel looked at me and wiped the back of her hand across her lips like an American Sign Language version of 'Yuck.'"

When the episode aired, it was supposed to have one of Jewel's "beautiful ballads under our love scene," said Lowe, but he was an executive producer on the series and "used one from Dido instead."

See the kiss:

3. His first Playboy mansion experience was pretty much what you'd expect. Just after finishing "The Outsiders," he was invited by Hugh Hefner to attend a Super Bowl party at the Playboy Mansion. Needless to say, Lowe — who was told to arrive without a guest — didn't watch much football that night. In a room with the guys at the start of the game, he recalled asking, "Where are the Bunnies," and wandered off to find them. He scored big when he stumbled upon a "Hansel and Gretel cottage" on the property with a room full of them.

After getting up close and personal with one — and we'll leave it at that as far as details — they made plans to meet later for a Jacuzzi in the famed "Grotto." When he arrived, he came upon another woman and started talking to her. But she started making odd noises, which made Lowe wonder if "she was having a medical episode." He quickly realized behind the woman was "a legendary Hall of Fame football star."

Lowe said he quickly backed away and headed out of there "with as much dignity as possible."

4. He was with Arnold Schwarzenegger the night the Governator was elected. Lowe campaigned for Schwarzenegger and he and Sheryl were with the action star and his then-wife Maria Shriver on election night. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Sargent Shriver, and Caroline Kennedy were there as well. The scene was nothing like what he expected it to be.

"In a movie, the script would have had the room erupt, like New Year's Eve, with lots of shouting, hugging, and victory fists in the air," he said of the winning moment. "But in real life, it turns out, the celebration, if you could even call it that, was subdued, dignified, quiet, and imbued with a dreamlike quality that made you begin to doubt that it was actually happening."

When Schwarzenegger emerged to take the call from Governor Davis, "He seemed almost unsure, a quality I never associate with him. … I finally got what was happening here. I was watching someone step into their future, a man aware enough to understand that his life would never be the same and changes he would never see coming were part of success's bargain."

5. He's candid about his alcoholism and called his stint in rehab "life-changing." Lowe ended his run as a boozing party boy at "4 a.m. on May 10, 1990." An alcoholic, he had his first sip of beer at 5 years old and stopped in 1990 when he headed off to a 31-day stint in rehab, which he called "life-changing" and detailed in the book.

"I was a world-famous actor, single, in my early 20s, with money, too much free time, a big libido and a drinking problem. I don't think you need F. Scott Fitzgerald to make my story more clear," he said of the time.

As for the rehab experience, it was very different then what young stars go through today.

"Twenty-some years ago, rehabs were different. In fact, most people hearing that word would have thought of an athlete 'rehabbing' a sports injury, not a chai-tea-latte-clutching starlet looking to rehab her image," he said, adding, "I could never have taken my first steps without the knowledge I gained in rehab. Like everything in life, you get out what you put in. I gave my all (I knew the stakes), and I came away with tools I use to this day, everyday. "

6. When he met Kate and William, he had his Liberace hair. For his role with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in "Behind the Candelabra," he had to "totally transform" his look, including wearing prosthetics and dying his signature locks completely gray, the end result resembling Drew Peterson.

"Surprisingly, turning my hair completely gray was the hardest part," he said. "Turns out there is no easy way to do it; as you can imagine there's not a huge market for it. The process took six and a half hours."

And a day after going gray, he was to meet Prince William and Kate when they visited California.

"In the reception line, they were a dashing and charming couple, but he in particular couldn't take his eyes off my white hair. I had hoped it would look dignified, like George Clooney. Instead, I looked like the great-grandfather of George Clooney.

"'I can see Hollywood is treating you well,'" he remembered the future kind of England saying dryly.

7. He was almost McDreamy. After he inked a deal with CBS to make 2004's "Dr. Vegas," he received a call "from the producers of a potential new show for ABC called 'Grey's Anatomy'" and was offered the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd, which ultimately went to Patrick Dempsey.

"I was torn. 'Grey's' was a much better script; in fact there was no comparison. But 'Dr. Vegas' had potential to become more original than a hospital soap," he said.

CBS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Les Moonves helped convince him that doing "Dr. Vegas" was the way to go — and they had a deal in place that would be hard to get out of — so Lowe ultimately turned down the "Grey's" role. And the show turned out to be a mess. He pushed to have Tom Sizemore co-star and the drug-plagued actor, whom Lowe gave part of his paycheck to in an effort to seal the deal, went awol mid-production after calling Lowe at 3:45 a.m. one morning and babbling incomprehensibly about his girlfriend being beheaded and thrown in a dumpster. The next day, Lowe tracked down the missing Sizemore, put him in his car, and took him to rehab.

Also, Amy Adams was cast at Lowe's love interest and someone on the show decided the up-and-comer was "not sexy enough to be the love interest" and dropped her from the series, which was canceled after just one episode.

"Love Life" hits store shelves on April 8.