HOLLYWOOD heartthrob Rob Lowe has dramatically lifted the lid on his decades-long feud with mega-rival Tom Cruise — branding the Top Gun action star his ultimate onscreen “nemesis”.

The 80s Brat Pack icon, 62, blew the doors wide open on their explosive rivalry, confessing the bitter agony of missing out on two massive, career-defining movie roles that catapulted Cruise into global superstardom.

The two A-listers have been locking horns ever since they were hungry, fresh-faced teenagers clawing their way to the top of Tinseltown. But according to Lowe, the relentless competition reached boiling point over two specific blockbuster roles he desperately lusted after — only for the insanely driven Cruise to snatch them right out of his hands.

Speaking candidly about their fiery relationship, Lowe didn’t hold back as he looked back on four decades of Hollywood clashes. “He’s my nemesis,” the Parks and Recreation star admitted, painting a vivid picture of a ruthless Hollywood dogfight where only one alpha male could reign supreme.

The legendary tension between the two superstars dates all the way back to 1983 when they co-starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic coming-of-age movie The Outsiders. Even back then, when both were just teenage hopefuls, the sparks were flying off-screen.

Lowe famously recalled how Cruise went completely “ballistic” during auditions when he found out they had to share a hotel room at New York’s prestigious Plaza Hotel.

“Tom finds out that we’re sharing a room and just goes ballistic,” Lowe previously spilled. “To me, what’s great about the story is, there are certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today. The notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part could have that kind of wherewithal… I remember going, ‘Wow, this guy is the real deal’.”

Things escalated even further on the set of The Outsiders, where testosterone levels soared off the charts. Boffins and movie buffs alike were stunned when Lowe recently revealed the duo used to engage in brutal sparring sessions in their hotel hallways — a fight that ended with Cruise knocking him clean out!

“We used to box in the hallway of the hotel we were staying in,” Lowe laughed. “We would wear headgear and mouthpieces, but we would legitimately spar. I hit him real clean and I rang his bell, and the next thing I knew, I woke up coming to on the floor. He had completely knocked me out! His eyes just went black.”

That raw, intense competitiveness set the tone for the rest of their careers. As the 1980s exploded, both actors were battling tooth and nail for the exact same leading-man roles. But while Lowe built a massive fan base in teen classics like St. Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night…, it was Cruise who bagged the gigantic box-office juggernauts that made him a cinema legend.

The sting of losing those two key roles to Cruise cut deep for Lowe, who watched on as his arch-rival turned those rejected auditions into absolute cinema gold. Movie insiders say losing out on those parts changed the course of Lowe’s entire career trajectory, cemented Cruise as the undisputed king of the box office, and left Lowe nursing a decades-long grudge.

Despite the ferocious battles and bitter rivalries over scripts, Lowe admits he can’t help but respect Cruise’s insane work ethic and unmatched drive. While Cruise went on to perform eye-watering stunts in Mission: Impossible and reign as Hollywood’s ultimate action star, Lowe pivoted into a hugely successful career on TV with hit shows like The West Wing and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Still, behind the polished Hollywood smiles and red-carpet glamour, the shadow of their intense 80s rivalry remains as strong as ever. And for Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise will forever be the one competitor who kept him on his toes — the ultimate movie nemesis who proved that in Hollywood, there can only be one top gun.