Rob Lowe: Gathering With New Yorkers After Osama Bin Laden’s Death Was ‘Amazing’

Rob Lowe welcomed President Barack Obama’s announcement that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed and said he hopes it brings closure to those affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

Access Hollywood caught up with the actor at a book signing for his memoir, “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” in New York City on Monday, where he recounted his night.

“People just spontaneously gathered when they heard the news that we had killed Osama bin Laden,” Rob told Access. “And to be there and share that with New Yorkers, was an amazing, amazing moment.”

The actor said Sunday’s event was particularly personal for him after he was aboard a flight on August 31, 2001, which turned out to be a test run for the terrorists. Unbeknownst to Rob, he sat next to Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been label as 9/11’s “20th hijacker” and is currently jailed for life.

“I flew with the 9/11 hijackers, I was on a dry run [on] the one that went into the Pentagon, and I knew the crew,” he told Access.

In his memoir, the actor recalls the flight, writing, “No one that day looked like a ‘terrorist’…They looked like us.”

“I had filmed ‘The West Wing,’ and flown that flight a number of times,” Rob told Access. “And so, it’s obviously personal for me, like it is for a lot of Americans – not like the families obviously – and I just wanted the closure like we all do, we all want closure.”

The “Parks and Recreation” star said the news was initially hard to process.

“At first, I didn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Nine years, why today? What happened?’ And now, I’m just really proud of those guys that went in there and did that, with the bravery that they showed,” he continued. “And I’m happy for the President. I’m happy for the families that can really hopefully begin to move on.”

The actor, who has trained with Navy SEALs, had nothing but praise for the team who took out the Al Qaeda leader.

“They’re real American heroes,” he added. “And serious studs… this is the Academy Awards for them.”

For more of Hollywood’s reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden, CLICK HERE.