That Time Glen Powell Got ‘Hit In The Face’ Pre-Top Gun By Premiere Security Who Didn’t Realize He Was In The Movie

Glen Powell walking and talking with a pool cue in hand in Top Gun: Maverick.
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Glen Powell has become a pretty big star thanks to his major turn as 'Hangman' as part of the Top Gun: Maverick cast, but the man has been making movies for 20 years --really. Of course, while Glen Powell has been more famous than most of us for his entire career, he apparently wasn’t famous enough to avoid getting kicked out of the VIP section of a party for a movie he was actually in.

Powell discussed some of his big “firsts” in Hollywood and that included his first “crazy Hollywood altercation” in a new cover story. According to what the actor told THR,  he was at Cannes to promote The Expendables 3, and during a premiere party, a bouncer didn’t believe that Powell belonged in the VIP section. The altercation became so heated that it ultimately got physical, resulting in the actor being punched in the face. Powell explained…

I got kicked out of the VIP section of the Expendables 3 party. It actually got kind of physical. There was a large bouncer that was convinced that I shouldn’t be in the VIP section, so it kind of turned into a physical altercation where I got hit in the face at the Expendables 3 party, ‘cause no one recognized me even though there was a banner in the party of my face. Just because you’ve got a banner doesn’t mean you’re getting in the party.

As Powell himself points out, while he was in The Expendables 3, he was the least known of the actors in the movie. The Expendables franchise is all about using major action movie stars, so the rest of the cast included the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Wesley Snipes. Certainly, everybody else in The Expendables 3 was easily recognizable as a star. Powell, not so much.

The Expendables 3 was certainly Powell’s biggest movie to that point, especially considering the fame of his co-stars. One would imagine he was quite thrilled with  being in such a big movie. Maybe he thought he’d finally “made it” only to realize that wasn’t quite the case when he got hit in the face for daring to believe he was a VIP.

Powell is probably having a bit less trouble with bouncers these days. His role as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick, one of the biggest box office hits in recent years, has ensured a lot of people have seen his face and would recognize him if they saw him again. Since then he’s starred in the rom-com Anyone But You (which was another box-office success), and this summer he’s leading the Twisters cast

While Glen Powell's parents are keeping him humble, the actor seems to have finally achieved the movie star status he didn't have when he got punched by a bouncer at Cannes. 

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.