Glen Powell will do blockbusters, just not Marvel or Jurassic Park
Glen Powell is on a hot streak right now, but he's very particular about the big tentpoles he's willing to do
Aux News Jurassic Park
A new profile in The Hollywood Reporter makes clear that Glen Powell has been working hard to become a bonafide Movie Star his entire career. In fact, Ryan Murphy says he kept trying to cast him after Scream Queens but Powell turned him down. (“He could have done any TV series, but he made it clear that he was chasing something,” the famed producer shares. “And I’d get a little mad at him, like, ‘What do you mean you’re waiting? What are you doing?’ But he was smart, and he was right.”) Powell’s star power and savvy got him into Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, and this summer’s Twisters. But his savvy also has him passing on potentially big parts, like a Bourne Identity reboot and the new Jurassic Park.
“Jurassic is one of my favorite movies. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I’m not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn’t help it,” Powell tells the outlet. “And the script’s great. The movie’s going to fucking kill. It’s not about that. It’s about choosing where you’re going to make an audience happy and where you’re going to make yourself happy.”
The profile also mentions he’s decided not to do any “pandering Oscar bait” or “Marvel fare.” For a guy who nearly went broke trying to break big (Powell says he was in financial peril during the pandemic waiting for Maverick to come out), it’s interesting Powell would seek to avoid Hollywood’s biggest studio. But Powell seems single-minded about becoming a movie star in the old-school style, and as Quentin Tarantino once observed, Marvel doesn’t make movie stars. Powell, who has an “icon wisdom” journal of advice Hollywood mentors have passed on to him, would be much more likely to listen to an established “icon” like Tarantino than anybody else. (The icon most quoted in Powell’s journal is reportedly his friend and biggest inspiration, Tom Cruise, who is also a devotee of the old Hollywood ways.)
It sounds like Powell now has plenty of offers coming in that he can afford to be choosy. Plus, he’s creating his own opportunities for himself as a writer and producer. He’ll next be seen in the buzzy Richard Linklater comedy Hit Man on Netflix, which he also co-wrote and produced. He’s also apparently writing a Broadway musical. “That’s the funniest part about this moment,” he reflects. “I’ve worked really hard for a long time, putting things together and just trying to get them in shape enough for people to give a shit. Then you get to a place where people are just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ and suddenly you’re playing musical chairs with yourself. You’re like, ‘Wait, do I sit in all these chairs right now?’”
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Nobody asked poor man’s Chris Evans to be in the MCU.
“Marvel doesn’t make movie stars”
*Chris Hemsworth has entered the chat*
Stars is plural. Chris Hemsworth is singular.
also i mean, take a quick look at his non-marvel work and tell me he’s a movie star outside of that.he’s famous, no arguing that.
I think Chris Pratt owes a lot of his success to Guardians. He was on his way to being big, and had already done the Lego Movie, but Guardians was his first really big lead role. The same is true of Tom Hiddleston, who’s post-Marvel career is very different from his pre career.It’s raised the profile or bankability of other actors. Jeremy Renner was a solid jobber for years, but post-Marvel he’s a star. Elizabeth Olsen was in a few indie projects, but was more famous for who her sisters were. Robert Downey Jr. was famous, but before Iron Man it seemed like his best years were far behind him. Tom Holland has only been in garbage otherwise, but I’d call him a star.I don’t think anyone makes movie stars on the scale they used to. Who’s even a movie star these days? Margot Robbie, Anya Taylor Joy, Timothy Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Zendaya. Come to think of it, where are all the guys?
Ryan Gosling counts, I’d say. Just witness his commanding everyone’s attention during I’m Just Ken at the Oscars.
But on the other hand: The Fall Guy’s box office.
Ya, but he’s old. Famous before Marvel.
* whose post-Marvel career. Not “who is post-Marvel career.”
You got me. This one always seemed designed purposely to trick people, as it’s an exception to the rule that most words take an apostrophe to show possession. It’s up there with “its” not requiring an apostrophe even though it’s possessive. Just a remnant of some quirk of English that most people don’t even know about, let alone remember.
possessive its doesn’t take an apostrophe the same way other possessive pronouns don’t take an apostrophe. His, hers, theirs, ours, its. Not an apostrophe to be found. Follows the rules, simple.
He’s famous, sure. But the whole argument about whether
Hollywood has “movie stars” is more about the actual star appeal. Like
for example back at the height of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action star
heyday, he could sell a movie on his name alone. Like look at the
original poster for Predator and his name is just as big as the movie
title’s. Hemsworth may be a good actor, hell a lot of Marvel stars are
good actors and have starred in good movies, but he’s not the main
attraction. Did people go see Men in Black International because of him?
Maybe a little, but I’d bet the vast majority of ticket sales were due
to people liking the first three movies. Did people watch Extraction because of Chris Hemsworth himself, or did they watch it because Netflix plugged the hell out of it and put it on everyone’s front page (this is a trick question because Netflix will never let us know how many people even watched Extraction)
There’s a good
interview with Anthony Mackie a few years back where he breaks down this whole thing and says that
Mackie himself is not a movie star, the Falcon (and now Captain America)
is a movie star. And so many modern movies now are based on older franchises whether it’s a sequel, a remake, or a reboot, most of the time the star appeal is the brands, not the actors.
When people are calling pitcher Noah Sydergaard “Thor” because of his likeness to Hemsworth, you know that you’ve become a household name of a star.
i think you know youve become a household name of a star when other people get called YOUR name, not the name of the character you play
You realize that the character he plays is pretty much synonymous with Hemsworth now right and not the other versions of it? That’s the point.
i realize that
Syndegaard looked more like the D’Onofrio Thor than the Hemsworth Thor.
The only thing I’ve gotten from this discussion is that “movie star” is a nebulously concept whose definition almost no one agrees on.
Oh it’s definitely nebulous as hell. But the whole thing is more of a spinoff argument/lament about the increasing reliance on brands and already established franchises for content in Hollywood.
Chris Hemworth recently got a star on the walk of fame tho
Which you pay to get, you or someone else nominates you, you cough up X dollars, boom you get a star. It’s cool, I will never have one, but it’s not really an “exclusive” club.
I’ve seen this definition before but by this definition, there are very, very few actual stars left. People don’t really go to movies solely for one individual actor anymore, at least not in masses. They don’t have to because they have way more entertainment options than before and they also can easily see how well a movie is received by critics and audience members ahead of time. And even when you have a good movie with a good cast, it can still fall on its face these days.I mean take The Fall Guy – the movie featured two actors that everyone seems to like in Gosling and Blunt, it got generally good reviews, and I thought the trailers looked pretty fun. But no one showed up to watch it.
however you can also point to powell and sweeney’s ‘anyone but you’ as a star-driven success. i think the problem is we keep shoving 40+ year olds into movies with 80s songs and expect that to move the needle with 20-somethings.
Maybe. Or audiences just want traditional rom-coms. FWIW, Glen Powell is 35 so he’s not that much younger than Gosling or Blunt are.Also the bigger lesson should be that studios should make more movies for $20-40m. Anyone But You was a financial success because it had a $25m budget. If it had the budget of The Fall Guy, it wouldn’t have been.
*Chris Hemsworth has entered the chat*And casually acknowledges that every movie he’s made that isn’t in the MCU has bombed horribly over and over.That’s a celebrity. That’s not a movie star. Kim Kardashian is a celebrity. Jack Black is a movie star.
Aw, did Cabin in the Woods bomb? I love that movie. It’s the only non-marvel thing I’ve ever seen him in, I’m pretty sure.
We’re literally in the wake of Furiosa’s release.
…And?
He loves Tom Cruise the scientology guy. Nuff said.
bro chill
Fair but he’s grating. Between Maverick and his joke romance thing with Sweeney I’ve seen enough of him.
Whatever you think about the scientology stuff (and I don’t like it either), Tom Cruise has had a career that any up-and-comer would want to emulate. It makes sense to take his advice.
Glenn Powell just ain’t it. He’s Scott Eastwood with a personality. That random five o’clock shadow white guy that keeps showing up in everything before people wonder why he keeps showing up in anything and realize he’s some producer’s second cousin’s nephew.BUT. He does have a personality, so I see him eventually settling into the Jai Courtenay role where they realize he’s not a star, he’s comic relief, and he excels at really cool, meaty character roles and people stop trying to get him on steroids and hype.
Huh, that is not my experience with this dude. I saw him in Scream Queens back in 2016 and thought he was amazing. Part of that probably was the writing of his character, but he played that hyper-realistic rich frat douche so hilariously. Then I didn’t see him in anything else for years and re-watched Scream Queens and was like “why didn’t this guy get more work?” Then I finally saw him in Everybody Wants Some I think last year and thought he was delightful. (I’m one of the few Americans whose never seen either Top Gun. Just never appealed to me)
He just seems so cocky
It doesn’t rhyme so it doesn’t work the way Bill Nye the Science Guy does. Let me help you: Tom Cruise the scientology schmooze.
He reminds me of way too many guy I’ve met that I’ve hated. That’s honest.
Have you seen Everybody Wants Some? Linklater is hit or miss for me but I liked it. His character is still maybe too cocky, but it’s different. and the movie is worth watching regardless.
you’re allowed to dislike a celebrity for any meaningless reason you want, that’s what celebrities are for and don’t let anyone tell you differently.i wish more people would just be like ‘he’s got an asshole face’ and be done with it, instead of finding a need to create a scenario where they’re a bad person and you were ‘right’ to not like them.
He’s my favourite movie star with a size 10 head and a size 8 face.
You cant unsee it. He’s like those cheap no-name action figures you see in dollar stores where they didn’t give a fuck about scale.
That works. I’d also go with “poorly texture-mapped character from a Nintendo 64 game”. “Dave, I can’t scale this to the model Jim made.”“Eh, screw it, you only see him in the warehouse level before he gets blown up.”
This man would like a word.
The reason he turned down Marvel is because they wanted to cast him as The Leader to save on a special effects budget. They figure they’d just have to paint him green
Nah, we do the woke the thing and recast the leader to be played by a woman – Powell’s fellow member of the Looming Forehead club, Eva Green:
hit man was incredible i can’t wait for everyone to see it. also him and edgar wright doing running man is so perfect i have to temper my expectations. powellsaince lets go.
“Jurassic is one of my favorite movies”Me too, Glen! Anyway, staying away from tentole movies and Oscar bait? It sounds like he’s afraid of high box office/award expectations. Which is fine, but I think that’s what sounds like the motivator here.
Tentacle movies? Hentai is a very specific niche that many might not be comfortable with.
That’s what amyl nitrate’s for.
Tentpole, I meant. lolBut no seriously a kraken-type creature is one of my big fears, so I too would stay far away from any tentacle movies. I’m choosing to ignore the hentai reference because I can picture what you mean and … that’s not for daytime.
Marvel movies are like dishes on Iron Chef America. Some are great, others good, some don’t quite work. But none of it is bad.(this does not include the dogshit Sony output)
“Jurassic is one of my favorite movies” […] “And the script’s great. The
movie’s going to fucking kill”I wouldn’t speak too soon there, Glen. I mean financially, probably yeah, but I highly doubt the script of the 6th sequel to Jurassic Park is gonna wow folks.
Maybe Bryce Dallas Howard will wear even sensibler shoes.
Jurassic Park x Skechers – THAR’S MONEY IN THAT THAR PRODUCT PLACEMENT.
he’s just being a good hollywood soldier there haha.
Hmm…however he wants to construct his career is fine, though waiting for a job to be released during the pandemic is different than not knowing you’re wanted. Ke Huy Quan wasn’t saying no to franchises while waiting for a not sure thing like Everything Everywhere All At Once. Which is to say, good for him that he gets to be particular.Also, there’s no movie stars of that mold other than Tom Cruise now—maybe the Rock but the shine seems to be off—and even Cruise mostly traffics in franchise outings. This critique of course has been going on for longer than the MCU. I understand why filmmakers want movie stars, because it implies the closest thing to a sure bet in Hollywood, but as the audience, do we really care?
Why am I getting the sense that Glen is going to eventually take over for Gerry Butler, in terms of making great B-movies people really enjoy but no one really pays attention to?
Maybe, but turning down Jurassic Park and working with Linklater doesn’t scream that.
Sounds like he doesn’t want to rearrange his schedule to take a bit part in a Jurassic Park movie, and can afford to do so.
Lucky him.
I may have said this when the topic came up before, but I’m happy enough for the concept of the “movie star” to die. I’ve never liked the idea of the actor being bigger than the role/film they’re in. That’s not why I watch movies. I think a big part of the MCU’s initial success was that they were hiring actors who were happy to work for the story rather than have the film revolve around their star power.
I kind of feel that way about voice acting in animated films. Yes, there were big name stars in older ones, but there’s just something about films that have top notch voice actors that the ones that just cram every A-lister possible in don’t have.
I truly don’t like his Littlefinger-lookin’ ass. Or his face.
I think he would make a pretty great Hal Jordan GL for James Gunn and the DCU.
Really likeable guy and he certainly did carry Anyone But You with his charm alongside the Sydney Sweeny vacuum.
NVM actually this guy would be perfect as Cyclops in the MCU dude what are you doing.
Glen Powell is just this year’s Sam Worthington.