The Untold Truth Of Glen Powell
After two decades in Hollywood, Glen Powell is finally getting the recognition he has been working so hard toward. The actor became the talk of the town after starring in the 2023 romantic comedy, "Anyone But You," alongside Sydney Sweeney, but his praise is years in the making.
After years of smaller, supporting roles, Powell got his big break in 2015 when he joined the cast of "Scream Queens." Before long he was bagging roles in major movies, like when he starred opposite Tom Cruise and Miles Teller in the long-awaited 2022 action drama, "Top Gun: Maverick," highlighting Powell's star power. Reflecting on his career success, Powell told Collider: "The best part about the slow burn of my career is that I've been doing this for 20 years and it's taken me a long time to just even get here, which for most people, feels like a starting line. I hope it's the start of something really great."
There's no doubt Powell has more success to come, but how well do we really know this Hollywood heartthrob? Let's dive into little-known facts about Powell's life — from his childhood to how he reacts when working with his acting heroes, and, of course, juicy details about the rom-com star's love life.
Glen Powell was born and raised in Texas
Fans of Glen Powell may not be aware that he was born and raised in the Lone Star State. He certainly doesn't give it away in many of his movies, as he has worked on minimizing his Southern accent over the years. However, he still shouts out his Texan roots whenever he gets the chance.
Powell was born in 1988, the only son to parents Glen Sr. and Cyndy, who also share two daughters, Lauren and Leslie. The family of five has a close bond that they've maintained over the years, despite Powell making movies all over the globe. His parents have actually visited every set he has ever worked on, and the actor prefers to spend his downtime back on his family ranch. "I spend most of my time in Austin, Texas around my family. It's where I feel the most like me," he explained to Vogue.
Powell makes the most of his time at home by hosting his famous friends, like his "Scream Queens" co-star John Stamos, for themed parties. But his parents haven't let any of his success go to his head, and Powell credits his family with keeping him grounded. He told E! that his mom is always the first one to call out any conceited behavior. "Sometimes you don't realize the changes that are happening, but often your mother is the first person to realize that the temperature has changed a little ... she's like, 'Glen, you know, could look a little douchey,'" Powell admitted.
Watching Jurassic Park made 5-year-old Powell love movies
Growing up, Glen Powell was always encouraged to pursue his passions. The actor recalled to Austin Weekly how he felt that mindset was ingrained within his local community in Austin, Texas, which he described as having a thriving art, film, and music scene. Early on in his life, Powell's passion was storytelling. In 1993, when he was just 5 years old, his father took him to watch Steven Spielberg's sci-fi epic, "Jurassic Park." From then on, Powell's career direction was clear.
"I didn't know if I was going to be a writer, actor, producer, or an entertainment lawyer. I just knew that I wanted to be in the business," he shared with the publication. Powell eventually began taking acting classes, landed theater roles, and, just a few short years later, got his first professional credit in 2003's "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over." The movie may have been a critical flop compared to its predecessors, but it was a massive stepping stone for 14-year-old Powell.
The future Hollywood star went on to have guest roles in popular shows, like in a 2009 episode of "CSI: Miami," and "Rizzoli & Isles" in 2011. Powell also worked as a stunt performer before his acting career took off, appearing in "The Wendell Baker Story" and "Jumping Off Bridges." These roles led to bigger and better career moves for Powell, but he never forgot the franchise that first inspired 5-year-old him, going on to voice a character in 2020's "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous."
Working with Denzel Washington lit a match under Powell
By 2007, Glen Powell had enough acting credits under his belt to pique the interest of actor-producer-director Denzel Washington. When Powell auditioned for a small part in the 2007 film, "The Great Debaters," which Washington was directing, the "Equalizer" star asked Powell to come back and try out for a much bigger role. The caveat was that Powell had to drop his Texas accent (which used to be much stronger) and impress some of the movie's producers, who weren't so convinced he was right for the role. Powell ultimately managed to win them over by embodying his character and wearing a sharp tuxedo to the table read.
The next day, 17-year-old Powell skipped school to join the cast at a debate camp to help study their characters before filming. It was a bold move at the time, but working with Washington had a major impact on Powell's career. While speaking to Men's Health, Powell recounted a great piece of guidance his co-star gave him that he has tried to live by ever since.
"This race, Hollywood, it's a marathon, not a sprint," Powell relayed from the Oscar-winner's advice. "You're running your own race. Don't look in the other lanes. It doesn't matter how fast somebody else is going, where they're going, or if they look better doing it. It doesn't matter." Powell also credited Washington, along with the late legendary talent agent, Ed Limato, with encouraging him to move to L.A., which marked the start of a fast-paced career in Hollywood.
His letter to Sylvester Stallone helped secure a role
In the years following "The Great Debaters," Glen Powell worked steadily in the entertainment industry. Staying in his lane scored him minor roles in the 2012 superhero sequel, "The Dark Knight Rises," along with the rom-com "Stuck in Love." Just two years later, he appeared in another blockbuster; "The Expendables 3." This action flick was his biggest role to date and saw him share the screen with Hollywood legends like Sylvester Stallone (who also co-wrote the script), Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Reflecting on the experience, Powell told Nylon: "Not a day went by on the Expendables set that I didn't realize I was living out every guy's dream. Shooting guns and kicking a** with living legends were the reasons I got into the business in the first place. The hardest part was not smiling." Not smiling was a necessity for Powell's character, Thorn, an unfriendly, no-nonsense ex-Marine.
Thorn had a lot of one-on-one camera time with Stallone's character, Barney, so Powell knew landing the role would be a huge coup. To ensure his success, he made sure Stallone knew how passionate he was about being a part of the project. "I wrote [to] Stallone telling him why I was the only choice for the role ... I had been preparing for this role my entire life. I promised Sly to go into the trenches with him if he went with me. He told me recently that my letter sealed the deal," Powell revealed.
Scream Queens was his big break
By 2015, Glen Powell had been working as a professional actor for over a decade, and during that time had been slowly yet surely building up his profile. He was finally able to reap the rewards when he was cast as fraternity bro Chad Radwell in Fox's comedy-horror series, "Scream Queens." Chad was the president of the Dickie Dollar Scholars – a group that included future "Emily in Paris" actor Lucien Laviscount – and it seems Powell's character made quite the impression on viewers.
"The amount of people that come up to me about 'Scream Queens' is shocking, probably more than anything else I've done. Maybe it ages like a fine wine," he told Vogue eight years after the show premiered. Not only did Powell's role in "Scream Queens" get him noticed, but it also showed off his comedic talent, which has served him well on screen. During filming, the actor told Variety that he was grateful to have had the opportunity to play such a comedic and exaggerated character. "He's just a guy who's there to make you laugh, so that's why I kind of love him so much," he explained.
While Powell has experimented with genres and taken on more serious roles, comedy comes naturally to him. "I come from a very goofy family. Anybody that knows me knows that my family is a bunch of goofballs. So I feel very comfortable in that space, making fun of myself a bit," he beamed to Vogue.
Powell was worried he 'ruined' Hidden Figures
Glen Powell was cast in the 2016 biographical drama, "Hidden Figures," as astronaut John Glenn after "Guardians of the Galaxy" star Chris Pratt passed on the role. The movie follows the story of three female African-American mathematicians, Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson (played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe respectively), who worked at NASA during the 1960s Space Race. Powell understood the gravity of the untold true story they were telling but had reservations about pulling off his part — and to make matters worse, these reservations were realized in his mind when he saw the movie for the first time.
While speaking to Kate Hudson for Variety (via X), Powell admitted: "I saw like an early cut of Hidden Figures and everybody in that movie just kills it, but then ... my section there's like a space shuttle, you know I'm like in a little capsule and things like that and they have a guy who is like puppeteering things floating on wires but that was all in the cut that I saw ... and I just remember being like, 'I ruined this beautiful movie, the legacy of these amazing women, you've ruined it.'" Of course, Powell didn't ruin the movie; it ended up being one of the most notable feathers in his cap, as it was a hit with critics and viewers alike, and lent some serious momentum to his acting career.
He fought to have a role in Set It Up
Glen Powell's roles in "The Expendables 3," "Scream Queens," "Everybody Wants Some!!" and "Hidden Figures" firmly cemented his status as a rising star. Powell took that momentum and ran with it, using his next major role as Charlie in the 2018 Netflix rom-com, "Set It Up," to prove beyond a doubt that he has what it takes to be the romantic male lead in a movie — something "Anyone But You" fans can also attest to.
However, the film's producers were initially wary of casting Powell. "I chased 'Set It Up' so hard. I was working with the same producers on a movie called 'Sand Castle,' but they didn't really see me in the role," Powell admitted to Bustle. At first, the producers worried Powell couldn't pull off Charlie's arrogant and shallow demeanor, but ultimately cast him alongside Zoey Deutch — the daughter of "Back to the Future" star Lea Thompson – who he previously co-starred alongside in "Everybody Wants Some!!"
Both of these casting decisions proved fruitful, as the movie — which follows Deutch and Powell's characters as they try to set up their bosses to get a reprieve from their demanding work schedules — was a critical success. It was even lauded for reviving the romantic-comedy genre.
Miles Teller won the lead in Top Gun over him
In 2018, Glen Powell went for one of the biggest movies of his career; "Top Gun: Maverick." After several delays, the movie officially premiered in 2022, and Powell caused a stir in the role of Hangman. But as it turns out, he initially auditioned for the role of Rooster, which ultimately went to "Whiplash" star Miles Teller. Powell later admitted to Men's Health that he was devastated when he didn't get the part. "I felt like I really delivered, and when I didn't get it, I was absolutely heartbroken," he explained.
Series lead and producer Tom Cruise was keen to keep Powell on board and presented the character Hangman as an alternative, but the Texan wasn't sure he saw himself in the role. "It's the hardest thing to do as an actor, to go, 'This movie's going to be absolutely incredible, but I don't feel like I know what I would do in it,'" he recalled. However, he was persuaded when the character was rewritten for him, and he even had input in the development of Hangman and helped choose his call sign.
In the end, Powell was thrilled to be a part of the movie. "The dream of this business is to occupy the costumes of your heroes. And to occupy a flight suit with Tom Cruise is as cool as it gets," he told People. Of course, the role required some serious physical training, as Powell famously did many sit-ups before filming the beach football scene.
Powell has his real pilot's license
It's a pretty well-known fact that action star Tom Cruise has long been a licensed pilot with an avid hobby of flying. However, you might not know that Cruise passed his love of aviation on to Glen Powell while they were filming "Top Gun: Maverick." It began when Cruise mentored his younger co-stars in flight training techniques, and Powell was in awe of how Cruise would leave set in his P-51 Mustang — a single-seat fighter plane which was actually shown in the movie – while he and the rest of the cast would be driven away in a shuttle bus.
"Try not falling in love with aviation after living out every pilot's dream while shooting @topgunmovie. Especially when you see the way Tom Cruise flexes it. The wings were just so much cooler than the wheels," Powell wrote in an Instagram post, detailing how Cruise helped him follow in his footsteps.
Powell explained that Cruise had bought him flight training for Christmas, and celebrated earning his pilot's license in 2020. "After months of flying, studying, and testing ... I'm the real deal ... Thank you Tom for being my hype man every step of the way. If you're looking for me, look [up]." In the post, Powell shared a video of him and his flight instructor celebrating after his first solo flight. So, if there's a third "Top Gun" movie, both Powell and Cruise could be jetting off into the sunset at the end of the day.
His mom makes cameos in most of his movies
Glen Powell's parents are frequent visitors on the set of whichever movie or TV show he's working on, but you might not know that his mom has been an extra in a lot of them, too. Exposing his mom's appearances to Interview Magazine, Powell explained: "She gets a kick out of it, and nepotism is kind of an expectation at this point. Now she's like, 'Glen, what's my role in this movie?'"
It started when he was in "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over." Although Powell didn't have a huge role in the film (he played the unnamed "Long-fingered Boy"), his mom managed to nab a cameo as an adult spy. Then she played a college professor at a party in "Jack & Bobby," an art patron in "The Expendables 3," Marge the lunch lady in "Everybody Wants Some!!," and a NASA employee in "Hidden Figures."
In some cases, Powell's "nepotism" even extends to his whole family, who appear together in "Into the West" and "The Great Debaters." His mom and dad both cameo in "Anyone But You," too. Glen Sr. is the man sleeping next to him on the plane while Cyndy is the woman across the aisle who catches Sydney Sweeney's character in the act as she's stealing a cookie from Ben (Powell) while he's asleep. "I mean that's a tour de force performance that she's delivering," he joked of his mom's role on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
He almost died filming Anyone But You
"Anyone But You" is a fun, bubbly rom-com set (mostly) in Australia, but the sunny feature, which co-stars Glen Powell as Ben and "Euphoria" star Sydney Sweeney as Bea, was not a total breeze to shoot. In fact, Powell admitted on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that some of the stunts for this movie were more dangerous than the action sequences required for "Top Gun: Maverick." But swimming in shark-infested waters below the Sydney Opera House before being air-lifted up by a helicopter was far from the most dangerous moment on set.
According to Powell, it was the scene on the cliff edge when Bea and Ben go hiking in the Blue Mountains that led to a near-death experience. In the scene, Bea and Ben make a show of their newfound fabricated romance for their friends. In the process, Bea finds a spider in Ben's pants leading to him stripping naked to make sure there aren't other creepy crawlies hiding in his clothes. The stunt apparently required nerves of steel, but not because of the spider.
"Taking your clothes off on the side of a cliff in a hurry is not safe," Powell explained to Variety. "Nobody talks about that safety issue on set, where I almost died falling off a cliff taking my pants off too fast." Thankfully, Powell escaped that day's filming unscathed (unlike Sweeney, who was actually bitten by the spider), and any of his real fear that shone through on-screen just added to the comedy of the movie.
He's a romantic at heart
Growing up with two sisters meant Glen Powell was raised on rom-coms like "The Wedding Singer" and "My Best Friend's Wedding" (the latter of which coincidentally starred his "Anyone But You" co-star Dermot Mulroney), and this certainly contributed to his ongoing love of the genre. Like any true rom-com fan, Powell is a romantic at heart. Sadly, he was decidedly less loved-up than his character by the time filming ended on "Anyone But You," as he was going through a breakup.
Powell had been dating model Jehane-Marie "Gigi" Paris since 2020, but they split in 2023 reportedly due to struggling with long-distance while Powell was in Australia. The actor confirmed the split during an interview with Business Insider, saying, "I was with someone that I really loved and cared about and was trying to kind of make sense of a lot of stuff." News of his singledom spread quickly and even sparked romance rumors between Powell and Sweeney (although these were put to rest by Sweeney, who is engaged to her long-time beau Jonathan Davino).
Despite his heartbreak, Powell still believes he'll find his happily ever after and touted that he has been inspired by his parents' long-lasting relationship. He told Bustle: "It's really fun to see your parents be romantic. I know that sounds weird, but they're goofy and really fun. If I could have what my parents have, I'd be really, really happy." In the meantime, Powell has found love with his adopted dog, Brisket, who he adores.
Powell is more than 'hot girl fit' in real life
Glen Powell showed more skin than ever before in 2023. Some of it was for interviews, such as his Men's Health cover, but mostly it was for "Anyone But You." In fact, one of the promos for the rom-com had so much nudity in it that it was pulled from Instagram. But Powell is pretty comfortable with his body. "As I've gotten older, I've realized that there's a time in your life and your career where this is the moment to do those things. Because your body's not going to look like that forever," he explained to Entertainment Weekly.
Of course, not many have exactly complained about seeing Powell's buff body, which became the butt of many of the jokes in "Anyone But You" — something that Powell actively encouraged. In one of them, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) even refers to his character, Ben, as "hot girl fit" because he doesn't do cardio. The same can't be said of Powell in real life, though, as the actor takes fitness very seriously. He was a devoted athlete growing up and played football and lacrosse before he started working out for movie roles.
Powell learned a lot about fitness on the set of "The Expendables 3" in particular, telling Nylon: "Jason Statham was a great mentor in that regard. Jason is all routine and discipline ... Sly is insanely shredded, and he works hard for it. An important thing I learned from him is to be physically active all the time."
He heeds the advice of his icons
Glen Powell has been lucky enough to share the screen with several acting A-listers, all while carving out a spot for himself. He has had a helping hand from many of his icons along the way, as many of them have bestowed him with career advice and the wisdom of their experience, which the actor has taken to heart. Powell told Collider he records every piece of advice he gets. "I have a book next to my bed, called Icon Wisdom, and every time I work with one of my heroes, I write down all the wisdom that they've told me," he revealed.
First, Powell filled it with words from Denzel Washington, who took him under his wing and gave him his start. Then, he embraced the advice of his "Hidden Figures" co-star, Kevin Costner, who told Powell to pick roles based on the image that he wanted to portray to the public. "He told me, 'Choose the roles carefully,'" he recalled to Bustle. "Because at the end of the day, people sometimes can't discern between who you are on the screen and who you are outside the screen. So make sure those two things line up as close as possible together.'"
But working with Tom Cruise taught him the most about making blockbusters. "He's like, 'If you want to make movies of a certain size and scope and scale, you have to figure out what can connect with everyone around the world in every territory,'" Powell recounted to Vogue.
He's also a writer and producer
It's not unusual for actors to get into the behind-the-camera side of filmmaking — such as producing, writing, and directing — as they gain more experience in the entertainment industry, but it's less common for stars to follow the opposite trajectory. However, that's exactly what Glen Powell did. Before his acting career took off, he interned as a script reader for Hollywood producer Lynda Obst, and he even penned and produced his own short film, "J.A.W.," in 2011.
As his career has progressed, Powell has continued to engage in the creative side of film and television. He was an executive producer on his 2022 action movie, "Devotion," which he worked on for six years before its release. Powell told Collider that he's passionate about having a hand in shaping a project, and he proved that again when he teamed up with "Everybody Wants Some!!" director Richard Linklater to co-create the 2023 action-comedy, "Hit Man."
Writing the movie, which is scheduled to debut on Netflix in June 2024, ended up being a cathartic experience for Powell. "Hit Man" explores the topic of identity, which is something the actor was struggling with. "Being an actor is a little bit of an identity crisis on its own. You have to be everything to everybody. You have to occupy all these different identities to succeed at [acting]. So it was an interesting thing for me to explore at the time," he told Vogue.
Powell is crafting a Broadway musical with Ryan Murphy
The future looks bright for Glen Powell. He's keeping busy on the big screen starring opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in "Twisters" in 2024, and he's expanding his repertoire by leaping into the world of theatre.
Amateur stage productions were Powell's entrance into acting, so his plan to write a Broadway musical feels like a celebratory full-circle moment as well as a bold career move. Powell will team up with "Scream Queens" creator Ryan Murphy for this theatrical endeavor, though, unfortunately for fans of the show, it will not be based on his character Chad Radwell. "The Chad Radwell Musical. That's the funniest idea. Just the Dickie Dollar Scholars," Powell joked to Vogue before ruling the idea out.
Cinema fans need not worry about losing Powell to theatre forever, though. He's definitely not turning his back on the big screen, rather just making the most of every opportunity. "There is no finish line when it comes to this job. I don't think there's any sort of goal outside of continuing to collaborate with some of my heroes and continue to do this job at the highest level and push myself as much as possible," he explained.