GLOW: Chris Lowell Takes Us Through His Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Actor Chris Lowell began his career playing a jittery photographer on 2004 teen drama Life As We Know It — and that’s also where he got into his character’s hobby after show co-creator Gabe Sachs gifted him a camera, the Leica M3. Over a decade later, Lowell has both an impressive acting résumé — The Help, Veronica Mars, Private Practice, the gone-too-soon Enlisted — and a portfolio of intimate, lovely photographs he’s taken over the years. The latest additions to that collection are from behind the scenes of GLOW, a new Netflix half-hour comedy in which Lowell stars as the glittering Jack Russell of a human Sebastian “Bash” Howard. Ahead, Lowell takes us through his photos featuring costars Alison Brie, Marc Maron, and more. 

“This is kind of a symbol of who she is and what she did on our show. She was such a tremendous leader. You would not find anyone who worked as hard, as diligently, and with as much enthusiasm as Alison. She was just a remarkable presence. Every. Single. Day. There’s a lot of strength in this photograph.”

“He’s just so aloof. He’s really hard to penetrate. It’s probably the reason he does his show [podcast WTF With Marc Maron], is because it gives him an opportunity to really open himself up to his guests. In a lot of ways, he’s a closed book. And I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like working with him. He’s an intimidating presence because he’s so damn smart and just sort of rough around the edges. I loved our dynamic. We really got along well. He was surprisingly vulnerable in front of the camera. He wouldn’t pose. He just sort of ignored me and let me get the images I wanted, which is the best.”

“That was an idea I had when those guys showed up and they were so unbelievably enormous and Ali’s so tiny and delicate and fragile, so I ran and grabbed one of the grip’s ladders, and I was like, ‘Ali, get up on that.’ I was like, ‘Go up until you’re at the height of the guys.’ I feel like Ali is so proud to be so tall up there. It just brings a smile to my face.”

“They’d been talking about this robot, I’d read it in the script, and then seeing that thing? Was cuh-razy. When we were shooting, you would be doing coverage of someone and in the deep background, the robot would be moving around and, like, nobody on set could help but laugh because it would steal every scene. I mean, how could it not?”

“Sheila is a really weird, difficult character. It’s very hard to communicate that humanity when you’ve got all that crazy makeup and wigs and clothing on. And Gayle, of course, did it effortlessly. There’s not a lot of people that can hold a stare, that can penetrate you with their eyes the way that she does in this photo.”

“This is just a rock ’n’ roll photo. It’s just the coolest thing ever.”

“There are certain people that the moment you point the camera at them, they just reveal themselves to you. And every photo I took of Kia, she immediately had her guard down and was unafraid of the camera. She was a real champion on that shoot.”

“Kate Nash is one of the nicest humans alive and her music is so good. I knew that Kate was a singer but I had no idea that she was this pop star. I was in London earlier this year and I went to one of her concerts, and Kate just came out and took my breath away. She was in her element when she was on camera, but to watch her on stage is totally different. She’s amazing. She is literally a rock star”

“I think this might be the most revealing photograph of Marc Maron. In a lot of ways, that summarizes Marc Maron, looking out into the great beyond, you know? With his shoes off. Marc would always sit by himself when we were on set. He would take his chair and move his way off to be alone. It was a very specific character trait of his.”

“[Co-creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch] really created such a safe environment to allow all of us to really explore these characters, which are so out there. I remember watching the audition tapes that the girls make at the end of episode 3 when they’re trying to create their characters, and they look insane! They’re so over-the-top and crazy. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like that and trust that you’re not going to come across looking like a complete fool. It was a real testament to the writers that they were able to strike such a fine balance between comedy and drama on the show and with these characters.”

“This is such an amazing group of people, such a talented group of artists, and I was just grateful that I could be among them.”

See more of Lowell’s photography at his website. His photographs are currently available for purchase at Atlanta’s Jackson Fine Art.