Glen Powell is finally the movie star he always hoped to be. After years of gig work in Hollywood, his star keeps rising higher as he’s been tapped to play massive roles in big Hollywood films like Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick, and the upcoming blockbuster, Twisters. The rise to the top hasn’t been easy for Powell, though, and he’s spent lots of years trying to get there. Now, the 35-year-old actor is opening up about a big mistake he made early in his career that ended up being a huge learning experience.
Powell recently chatted about his newfound role as a Hollywood star, his latest Richard Linklater project, Hit Man, and told candid stories from his early acting days with Vanity Fair. While many industry leaders saw promise in him, he struggled for years, only being able to land guest spot roles on shows like CSI. He was luckily able to live in his friend’s family pool house in Beverly Hills while he tried to make ends meet. However, he was quickly kicked out by his friend’s sister when he tried to leverage his situation by throwing a party. He explained his 19-year-old thought process, saying:
I came from that college-party mentality where there are no boundaries. Nobody gives a fuck about you in Hollywood if you can’t offer them something. I made a mistake and offered the house. … She laid into me that night and rightfully so.
The sister angrily told Powell at the time that he would never be able to get anywhere in Hollywood, especially considering his irresponsible decision. The sentiment didn’t cut deep, however, as this was a line he had heard many times before. The Top Gun: Maverick actor explained:
But I’ve probably been told, ‘You’ll never make it in this town’ more than any individual alive. The odds are so slim that people hand that quote out like candy.
After he was kicked out of the pool house, Powell had to move to a place far into the valley in Van Nuys, quite a different commute than central Beverly Hills. While getting kicked out put a real damper on his situation and aspirations, it ultimately ended up being the slap in the face the Set It Up actor needed at the time. He said:
I was like, ‘You know what? This is where you deserve to be, you piece of shit.’ It was like the worst hangover ever. But every major turning point in my time out here has always come from a hit in the face.
The wake-up call ended up being worth it in the end, as the adversity helped lead him to become a huge up-and-coming star.
He was top-billed with Sydney Sweeney in the rom-com, Anyone But You, which ended up being a big box office smash hit. Hit Man is being teased as a big crowd-pleaser among Netflix’s 2024 releases, and Twisters may just be the disaster blockbuster of the summer.
He is also set to lead Edgar Wright’s Running Man remake, another buzzy film with an auteur director at the helm.
Overall, Powell has come a long way since his pool house party days.
He can probably now throw as many Hollywood parties as he wants, but he seems to have no interest in doing so. The actor has moved back to Austin, Texas to be closer to his family. The family unit seems to keep him grounded too, as his parents recently trolled him at his Hit Man premiere. With a flourishing movie career, most of his time is spent on set anyway, and he’s definitely grown up a lot since he threw that life-altering party. Adversity is sometimes the most important part of the recipe for success.
You can see Glen Powell in Hit Man when it becomes available to those with a Netflix subscription on May 24. Fans should also check him out in Twisters, which hits theaters nationwide on July 19. For more information on other films heading to cinemas and streaming later this year, make sure to consult our 2024 movie schedule.