The Glen Powell Network

13 Dec

Glen Powell Talks Top Gun, Devotion, and Denzel Washington’s Life-Changing Advice

SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDActor Glen Powell reflects on Denzel Washington’s wisdom, the enduring impact of films like Top Gun: Maverick and Devotion, and the power of storytelling to inspire audiences and shape culture.

Glen Powell: The Year of a Lifetime

Glen Powell is a man on fire. Between his breakout role as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick—a film that reignited the magic of blockbuster cinema—and his moving portrayal of Tom Hudner in Devotion, Powell has cemented himself as a leading man with a purpose. But if you ask him about his success, he’ll credit more than his undeniable talent; he’ll talk about the lessons he’s learned from legends like Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, and, most notably, Denzel Washington.

In a recent Everyday Warrior Podcast interview, Powell shared the piece of advice from Washington that transformed his approach to both his career and his life: “Don’t look in the other lanes. You’re running your own race.” It’s a simple but profound philosophy that Powell carries with him to this day, guiding his decisions and keeping him grounded in an industry known for its chaos.

Top Gun: Maverick—Cinema at Its Best

For Powell, Top Gun: Maverick wasn’t just a sequel but a cultural moment. “That movie,” Powell says, “is unapologetically American. It brought people together post-pandemic in a way that felt like a celebration—not just of aviation or the Navy, but of cinema itself.”

Powell credits Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer with creating a film that’s not only visually stunning but emotionally resonant. From its jaw-dropping aerial stunts shot on actual Navy aircraft carriers to its ability to make audiences cry and cheer in equal measure, Top Gun: Maverick redefined the theatrical experience. Powell doesn’t shy away from calling it “a return to American cinematic exceptionalism.”

Devotion: A Story That Needed to Be Told

While Top Gun brought audiences into the cockpit of modern aviation, Devotion delves into a lesser-known but equally heroic story from the Korean War. Powell portrays Medal of Honor recipient Tom Hudner, whose selfless act to save his friend and wingman Jesse Brown, the first African American naval aviator, epitomizes courage and devotion.

Powell’s personal connection to the film runs deep. “My grandfather was a Korean War veteran,” he shares. “This story felt like a chance to honor him and so many others who served in a war often overlooked.” The project, which Powell developed for five years, highlights his commitment to creating films that blend spectacle with substance.

Denzel’s Timeless Wisdom

Amidst the whirlwind of his career, Powell’s approach remains rooted in the advice Denzel Washington gave him on the set of The Great Debaters: “Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s not a zero-sum game.” Powell explains, “Denzel told me it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Success isn’t about beating the person in the next lane; it’s about running your best race.”

This perspective has not only kept Powell humble but has also allowed him to celebrate the success of others. “When someone else wins, it doesn’t mean you lose,” he emphasizes, rejecting the cutthroat mentality that pervades Hollywood.

The Legacy Powell Aims to Leave

Whether he’s high-fiving strangers after a Top Gun screening or talking to veterans moved by Devotion, Powell’s mission is clear: to tell stories that matter. “Movies,” he says, “are about collective experiences. They’re a chance to inspire, to remind us of the best parts of ourselves.”

With recent projects like Twister, The Blue Angels, Hitman, and Anyone but You, Powell’s career is only gaining momentum. Powell isn’t just running his own race—he’s redefining what it means to win.

Posted by jen under Glen Powell, Press, Video
13 Dec

Glen Powell honored by Sydney Sweeney as one of EW’s 2024 Entertainers of the Year

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLYPowell’s “Anyone but You” costar celebrates the actor’s big year, which also includes “Hit Man” and “Twisters”: “Glen is everything you’d want a movie star to be.”
Is there anything Glen Powell can’t do? After proving his action-movie chops in box-office juggernaut Top Gun: Maverick, the Texan took on 2024 with a one-two-three punch. First, there was the R-rated rom-com Anyone but You, which actually opened at the end of December 2023 but enjoyed the large majority of its success in the first couple months of the new year thanks to his chemistry with costar Sydney Sweeney (that scene where he strips down to escape a spider in his clothes didn’t hurt). Then came the debut of Hit Man, a movie he co-wrote with director Richard Linklater and in which he starred as a psychology and philosophy professor who ends up working undercover with police and posing as a hit man, only to fall in love with a woman (Adria Arjona) who tries to hire him. His work in that film earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. He was a producer on the documentary, The Blue Angels. And then there was Twisters, the summer blockbuster that banked nearly $371 million, where he played a cocky storm chaser who joined forces with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos to figure out how to stop tornadoes in their tracks. Oh, and he adopted his adorable dog Brisket while filming that movie — and made a star of him in the process.

But it seems nothing can stop Powell, who has a large slate of projects lined up for 2025, including the series Chad Powers and a remake of The Running Man. But Sydney Sweeney — who had a busy 2024 herself, starring in Madame Web, Eden, and Immaculate, which she also produced, and has the series Echo Valley and produces and stars in a Christy Martin biopic in 2025, and will return to film season 3 of Euphoria — was at Powell’s side at the top of 2024 for Anyone but You, which she also executive produced. Here, she celebrates Powell’s juggernaut year.

The first time I properly met Glen Powell was over Zoom, and even through a screen, his warm, personable energy was palpable. He exudes charisma, passion, and an infectious love for storytelling that makes you lean in and want to be part of his world. From the very beginning, it was clear that Glen isn’t just a talented actor — he’s a force of nature and a true collaborator.

Working with Glen was one of the most memorable experiences of my career. The first time we ran lines together in Australia, I was struck by the incredible thought he’d poured into his character. Every choice he made felt intentional, layered, and deeply rooted in the story we were trying to tell. Glen approaches his craft with such care and precision that it elevates everyone around him. On set, he’s not just a scene partner — he’s a real partner. He looks you in the eyes, and in that moment, you know you can do anything together. We trusted each other implicitly, and that bond translated into every frame of the film. And yes, I tested that trust — literally. I’d randomly throw trust falls at him just to see if he had my back. He never let me down. That’s who Glen is, both on camera and off.

What stands out most about Glen is his grounding in the things that truly matter. His love for his family and his Texas roots is a testament to the man he is. Witnessing the love and respect he has for his family — and the love they have for him — is inspiring. It’s a reminder of the kind of person we all aspire to be: someone who remains loyal to what’s important, no matter where life takes them.

Glen has never lost his love for storytelling or his innate understanding of who his audience is. He’s not chasing validation or trying to prove something to the world; instead, he’s deeply invested in making people happy. His goal is always to create experiences that resonate, entertain, and leave you feeling something — whether it’s joy, hope, or inspiration. And he’s been doing a pretty damn good job at it.

Thoughtful, caring, and a goofball in the best way, Glen is everything you’d want a movie star to be. But beyond the star power, he’s simply someone who makes the people around him better. I don’t know if I’ll ever have another experience quite like the one I shared with Glen. He made it special, and I’ll forever be grateful for the memories we created, both on and off screen. Glen Powell is a rare gem, and the world is lucky to have him, and I’m so happy for the recognition he so much deserves.

Posted by jen under Glen Powell
10 Dec

Glen Powell On First Golden Globe Nom For ‘Hit Man’

DEADLINE – There’s nothing better in baseball than a surprise grand slam, and this morning, Glen Powell got one in his first Golden Globe Nomination for Male Actor in a Comedy/Musical for the Netflix movie he produced and co-wrote, Hit Man.

Powell was in London for the shoot of his next movie, Edgar Wright’s The Running Man when his family –who literally has cameo roles in the Paramount title– “stormed” into his hotel room screaming with glee over the Globes news.

The movie, which world premiered at TIFF during the strike in 2023 where it was snapped up by the streamer, has been a passion project for Powell, his first learning about via Michael Costigan at Aggregate Films who turned the Top Gun 2 actor onto Skip Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly piece about a humdrum professor who moonlights for the police department. He poses as a hitman. In the movie, he winds up falling in love with one of the cops’ women of interest. Powell suggested they take the idea to his former Fast Food Nation filmmaker, Richard Linklater, who is great with characters. Linklater was very acquainted with the real life story of Gary Johnson. Brad Pitt at one point wanted to play him, but a script couldn’t be cracked. Powell and Linklater found a way in.

“We figured out where fact and fiction were married by taking this idea, the fantasy of a hitman, the fantasy of ourselves,” Powell tells Deadline this morning.

Powell was just involved in co-adapting the title with Linklater, but was heavily involved test screenings, and rolled up his sleeves in shaping the film.

“What a wild crazy journey this has been,” breathed Powell this AM. Looking back he tells us that there were “an amount of times (Hitman) it fell part; but there was a collective feeling of who you can be, if you set your mind to it.”

Powell gave a special shoutout this morning to “the assistants at CAA” who he showed a first cut to.

“I hosted a screening at CAA, invited all the assistants to watch and they did comment cards. We did a Q&A afterwards. All the assistants were in the room and a lot of their notes made it into the movie.”

“They believed in the bold decisions in the movie; a lot of things that made some people nerviouse, they were excited about,” adds Powell on how CAA staffers were integral in solving first act problems, as well as pace and clarity.

After starring with his sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew in Running Man, Powell will stay in London through the spring when J.J. Abrams secret movie ramps up with Jenna Ortega. Powell says that as far as any description for the movie, “it’s classified! It can’t tell you anything!” All he says is “it’s really big, really fun.” A movie for the era.

Posted by jen under Glen Powell, Hitman, Press, Projects
09 Dec

Glen Powell is a Golden Globe Nominee

Glen has been nominated at the Golden Globes for his role in Hit Man for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture in a Musical or Comedy, as well as the film Twisters being nominated for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Check out the nominees in his respective categories:

CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT

ALIEN: ROMULUS (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
GLADIATOR II (Paramount Pictures)
INSIDE OUT 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
TWISTERS (Universal Pictures)
WICKED (Universal Pictures)
THE WILD ROBOT (Universal Pictures)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

JESSE EISENBERG (A REAL PAIN)
HUGH GRANT (HERETIC)
GABRIEL LABELLE (SATURDAY NIGHT)
JESSE PLEMONS (KINDS OF KINDNESS)
GLEN POWELL (HIT MAN)
SEBASTIAN STAN (A DIFFERENT MAN)

Posted by jen under Glen Powell, Press
13 Nov

Glen Powell’s Secret: “I Try to Think Audience First, Rather Than Me First”

Photoshoots > Outtakes > Session 047

VANITY FAIRHollywood’s most bankable new star on struggle and strategy.
There’s a lot of talk about how handsome Glen Powell is and how he’s bringing back the vibe of the old-school Hollywood leading man. But if you want to understand who he is deep down, just note that when he got the chance to write his own lead role, he made himself the dorkiest character imaginable—one who masquerades as a succession of increasingly ridiculous figures in outrageous outfits and absurd hair.

That was Netflix’s Hit Man, directed by Richard Linklater, a fellow Austinite who gave him his big break in 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!! We’re thrilled to have Powell as part of our 2025 Hollywood Issue. Here, he delves into not just his impressive string of hits, but also the lean years when he was a Hollywood nobody. If he happened to get invited to the party back then, he says, he’d have to smuggle in his own drink in a flask because he was so broke.

Vanity Fair: In Hit Man, your character gives a speech in which he talks about living on the edge, and how you’ve got to have some danger and excitement in your life. There are many things not to live your life by in that movie, but that’s not a bad message, is it?
Glen Powell: You don’t want to take all the lessons from it. [Laughs.]

Your filmography is very eclectic. You’ve got romantic comedies like Anyone but You, you’ve got big-budget tentpoles like Top Gun: Maverick, visual-effects action movies like Twisters, you’ve got indie-feeling, cross-genre films like Hit Man. Are you deliberately mixing it up to avoid being pigeonholed?
When it comes to that, the thing I’ve really tried to chase is a feeling, like, “I hope I have it in me,” right? I’m trying to do ambitious things that scare me a little bit, because when they scare you, it means that you have to rise to the occasion.

You don’t just want to do the thing that has already been a success.
I understand why some people would just play the greatest hits. But at the same time, you get into trouble when you’re trying to diversify for the sake of diversification, and you leave the audience out of it. And that’s where I try to be really thoughtful. I try to think, “Audience first,” rather than, “Me first.”

What does the audience want to see? How can I fit into a role that really challenges what I do, where I’m not settling into any sort of groove that feels too familiar or too monotonous? Do you know what I mean?

I do. You see that phenomenon all the time: Actors will have a number of hits and then suddenly get the chance to make something they want—and they make something that nobody else wants to see!
Yeah, totally. There’s always been this phrase, “One for me, one for them.” And I just completely disagree with that idea. I think it can be all for them, and it can be all for you, and you just have to be really deliberate about what you’re a part of. You just have to find roles that are flavors that you’ve never explored, or just because a movie’s smaller doesn’t mean it has to be unappealing to an audience. I find that there’s this interesting creative drunk driving where you’re like, “Okay, I’m going to go do a small movie for me, a big movie for them.” That’s not a plan.

People refer to you as a classic movie star. You’ve got the matinee-idol good looks, but you also have the instinct to make stories that don’t just rely on that. I think it’s interesting that the movie you cowrote, Hit Man, has you in all of these ridiculous costumes and haircuts.
For me, I’m just having fun. Hit Man is an example of a kind of movie that I really, really like, but also I got this great joy out of wondering if I could pull it off. The more I researched the real-life Gary Johnson, the more that I was like, “Wow, this is a tall order and not necessarily a natural fit.” Gary and I don’t share, I would say, a lot in common in terms of the way we orient our lives, and yet it’s really fun to step into the skin of someone like that.

It doesn’t seem like the kind of movie studio executives were offering you.
Hit Man was one of those that really taught me. The business—as we were selling it—didn’t understand what it was. We pitched it around town and people were like, “Oh, great, we want to be a part of this.” Then they were like, “Actually, we don’t want to be a part of that. Can we change that?”

And [director Richard Linklater] and I were always excited about the potential of what we were creating. It was unique and it was different. Audiences couldn’t get out ahead of this movie. It didn’t really fit into one genre.

To get to create that kind of story, you have to have status. Do you feel that there is a performance aspect to just being a lead actor in this industry? In addition to being in front of the camera, do you have to play a part in Hollywood?
I’ve failed for a lot longer than I’ve succeeded. I’ve really gotten a chance to see other people do it. And what I realized is, I think the trap is trying to fit into the mold of something like that where it’s inauthentic.

I guess what I was thinking about was the New York Times article in which you and Sydney Sweeney talked about playing up flirtatiousness in public, even though you weren’t in a relationship, because that’s what the audience of a rom-com like Anyone but You wants.
I think what people forget about with a press tour is that it’s its own sense of entertainment. I don’t think it’s duplicitous. For Twisters, I had the best time because I’m getting to literally live in a world of trucks, and tornadoes, and the South, and country music, and all these different things where I was like, “This is authentically all me.” Shotgunning a beer onstage with Luke Combs is press, but that’s also something that I had the greatest time doing. That was so damn fun.

It sounds like you’re saying you and Sydney would have to be actual friends to play up that kind of thing.
I love her. She’s the greatest. If you’re not having fun with this job, then I think you get burnt out. We just had a really good time. So we have just such a great friendship and really cheer for each other and it’s been a fun ride to do this thing together.

What was it like for you in the years when you weren’t in demand, when you were in your 20s?
As a struggling actor, there’s no harder place to live than being in Hollywood with nothing going on. The currency of that town is how relevant you are and what your last job is. It makes you oppressively self-aware. Where people can get caught in a rut is where they just want to continue spinning the roulette wheel without any thought of why. They just stay at the table for no reason other than to stay at the table.

How did you cope with having nothing going on?
Even at the darkest moments in that town, when I really didn’t have anything happening, you sort of have to lie to yourself, at least a little bit, and act like this is that chapter of the story where things just aren’t going right. You have to believe in the Hollywood legends of those people that you admire, the people that you’re chasing, that had those long stretches of famine as well. I’m very grateful about getting a chance to understand a lot about writing. I had to occupy different types of jobs that allowed me to understand how to finance things, and produce things. I started understanding a facet of this business that’s really serving me right now.

What type of things were those?
I’d hit random people up and I’d try to drum up money for other people’s shorts to turn them into features, or I’d try to hunt down stuff and pitch people to get a small role in things. In LA, you are really just hustling to just try to be a part of the experiment at all. People are like, “Oh man, auditioning must be tough.” And I’m like, “No, auditioning is a luxury.”

Finding an agent, finding anybody to talk to you at a damn party, having enough money to pay for headshots, these are the things that no one talks about. Trying to pay for acting class, and trying to get better. Auditioning feels like you’re at the party. You’ve gotten past the velvet rope. You may not be able to afford a drink at the party, but you’re in it, you can taste it. But so often in Hollywood, most of the time you are outside that velvet rope. Most of the time the bouncer is not even allowing you anywhere in the vicinity.

What kind of bit parts paid the bills?
That’s the other interesting thing about this business right now—how much it’s changing. The business no longer supports struggling actors the way it did when I was kind of coming up. I would do an episode of NCIS, and that would keep me afloat for a year. You know what I mean?

But only if you’re careful with the money.
My overhead’s not high. You’re not living a lavish lifestyle. You’re hiding a flask in your boot if you go out for a drink. You’re not necessarily able to afford anything significant in that town, but you are able to stay there. Those little jobs, like getting a commercial, keep life in the system.

What’s it like doing a small part in a big movie? I saw one of your credits on IMDb was a stock trader in The Dark Knight Rises, which is a massive movie, but you’re only a small part in a machine like that. What do you remember about doing that?
I remember everything. You never forget the feeling. It’s something I carry to every set I walk on now, which is just the reverence for being on a set in general. But I remember on Dark Knight Rises the feeling of being able to walk onto a set and you knew everybody in the world wanted to be on that set, right?

Even though it was a small role, I auditioned several times for it. I was getting to work with the greatest director on the planet, Christopher Nolan. And you’re sitting there and all of a sudden Tom Hardy walks in as Bane. It’s electric. It’s sort of out-of-body. That was one of those movies when nothing was going on in my life. I was just fighting for every inch. And when Christopher Nolan casts you in his movie, it’s a validation that’s hard to explain. And I’ve talked to Chris about this. We’ve run into each other at different things. I saw him during his amazing Oppenheimer run, and he’s very proud that he plucked me early. I’m just very grateful that he took a shot.

Posted by jen under Gallery, Glen Powell, Photoshoots, Press
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