In the last five years, few stars have experienced a rise quite like what we’ve seen from Glen Powell – the actor going from being the breakout of Top Gun: Maverick to make hits like Anyone But You and Twisters. In that time, he’s played a lot of different roles in a lot of different projects… but I have picked up on a funny pattern in some of his character choices, and I decided to ask him about it.
I sat down with Powell alongside Jessica Henwick and Topher Grace earlier this month during the Los Angeles press day for their new movie How To Make A Killing, and it gave me the opportunity to point at a trend in his filmography: the new A24 movie, Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man and the Hulu original series Chad Powers all feature him as characters who find themselves donning disguises. Powell said that isn’t something he has done on purpose, but he does find it funny that it reflects a particular quality he looks for in potential projects. He told me,
You know what's really weird is, I do find – I don't know if you guys feel the same way – but based on what you actually choose, where you're like, 'Oh, that's a cool movie.' Or like, 'I like that,' part of it is like, 'What would I want to see?' And I always like when characters are, there's duality to them or they have a secret or whatever it is.
As Jessica Henwick pointed out in response, it adds a fun kind of meta level to the performances, as it allows the audience and the protagonist to share something together that isn’t specifically shared with other characters.
Powell clearly has an affinity for those complex characters, and in following up, he practically echoed a famous quote from author Jim Thompson: “There is only one plot: things are not as they seem. He added,
I always find any great stories, you have a lie at the center of it. It makes it inherently more interesting. But I also think it's like an interesting psychological exercise. Like if I went back through your filmography and your filmography, I bet you could find some common DNA of the characters that you decided to latch on to.
Topher Grace had his own take on it. While How To Make A Killing marks the first time that he has worked with Glen Powell, they have known each other for a while now, and he is of the opinion that Powell’s in-character disguises are simply a reflection of the man’s gift as a performer. He said smiling,
I'll give you the real answer. I've known Glen for a while, we've never worked together, and I came back and people were like, 'What's the secret sauce?' And I was like, 'Oh, he's a good actor.' That's true. You know what I mean? He wants to probably do lots of things instead of play the same role all the time. And even in my scene, I didn't know he was gonna be playing kind of a nerdier version of himself. It's a good lesson for any actor to go, 'Is there something else you could be doing to kind of stretch and show the audience more.
Also featuring the talents of Ed Harris, Zach Woods, Bill Camp and Margaret Qualley, How To Make A Killing is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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