Glen Powell, 2024 superstar, thinks a lot about friendships and feelings

There is no such thing as ‘normal’, but talking to Whirlwinds actor Glen Powell raises the possibility that… maybe there is such a thing?

Powell, who has built a close relationship with wildlife filmmaker Richard Linklater through films such as Everybody wants it!! and this year Hitmanhas revived the art of movie stardom with Regular Guy swagger. His polished look made him suitable for the screen, but early on, creators like Ryan Murphy cast him in shows like the horror comedy Scream queens to mock the common man. Success came when he played up the human element, charming in romantic comedies like Put it on And Everyone but youand play the hotshot pilot role twice in a row in 2022 Top Gun: Maverick And DedicationHe has rarely done science fiction or supernatural work outside of his appearance in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Overhis very first role at the age of 14, and Whirlwindswhich strives for “cli-fi” realism.

The actor’s ambition to play every version of the Regular Guy takes a major next step in Audible’s new comedy podcast The best man’s ghostwriterwhich will be released in September. An audio-friendly twist on the Clutch Formula, comedian Matthew Starr’s series follows Nate (Powell), a speechwriter who specializes in prepping nervous best men who love to make obscure Batman jokes for wedding audiences. But Nate knows that specificity is key to a powerful reception moment; in the premiere episode, a best man is played by Fallout‘s Zach Cherry only cracks his speech after Nate urges him to focus on the pastime he shares with the groom: Dungeons & Dragons. Nate has a vague idea of ​​what a d20 is, but he knows that what often bonds friends is the random hobbies and interests they find at the right time in their lives.

Powell is a natural bounce board for The best man’s ghostwriter‘s eclectic cast — including Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, D’Arcy Carden, Lukas Gage, Alex Wolff, Nicole Byer, Jason Mantzoukas and Jonathan Van Ness — but I couldn’t help but wonder: is the real Powell Actually This “normal”? Yes, he is. Polygon caught up with the actor to chat about his everyday journey and where, when he’s freaking out about something.

Polygon: Despite the internet’s nerd-filled efforts to cast you in superhero roles, you often play “normal” people in relatively normal situations. Is that a choice?

Glen Powell: I think the only thing you have in terms of choosing roles is just your instincts, what you really respond to and what worlds compel you. Just on an emotional level, at this stage in life where a lot of my friends are getting married, I’ve been to a lot of weddings, you think a lot at a lot of weddings and you see a lot of best men giving speeches. Sometimes you stand there and you’re on the other side of it, and it’s a high-stakes moment that’s charged. It’s the pinnacle of a friendship, the definition of a friendship. You don’t get that very often, to try to show up for someone on the most important day of their life. And I find that when there’s pressure around things, there’s usually a lot of comedy around it, and there’s usually a lot to say.

And when Matthew Starr told me this… he wasn’t just ghostwriting a witness, this is literally what he did, which is so funny. It’s like the Clutch thing — there are people who are Hitch! That’s true. Matthew Starr is the Hitch of the marriage world. I’ve always loved stories about ordinary people, and no matter what the odds are, whether the odds are extraordinary in terms of their internal struggles, or whether they’re up against extraordinary odds, I don’t know, those are the characters I can relate to. But I guess you can only gauge where you are in your life.

Nate doesn’t necessarily get all the comic book and board game references his clients make, but he does understand why they’re important. Is there anything you’re particularly geeky about in that regard?

I think anyone who knows me knows that I’m really geeky about a lot of things. That’s the funny thing about the characters I’ve played on screen — I usually play really arrogant jerks. But I’m a really passionate person about a lot of things. I get really crazy about a lot of things. I throw theme parties. I get really crazy about movies. I throw game nights.

What games do you play during a game night?

My family loves this game called Fishbowl. It’s a three-step charades game, which is a big ranch favorite. We play this game called Pitch, we play Mafia, of course, I do charades…

You’ve got the acting games in your hands!

The core of this podcast is about how friendships, in this case male friendships, are often built on hobbies that persist through time for almost inexplicable reasons. Did that sound familiar? Do you?

As I’ve navigated through different phases of my life, I’ve felt like I’ve had a lot of different, very specific chapters, and life has changed in all sorts of ways, and it’s always fascinating to me, friends that are still around, that stick with you, and what connects you. When convenience connects you, it has an expiration date, and I find that’s why I was really drawn to this.

I was actually talking about this with one of my best friends, we became friends right after he got married, and he said to me the other day, “I can’t believe you weren’t my best man. I’m shocked you weren’t at my wedding.” Sometimes you go to a wedding and sometimes the people who are there, who knows if those people are going to stay in your life, right? And finding people who navigate all the different chapters and seasons is a fascinating idea. I think that’s really what the speech is about. It’s trying to define whether this is the best choice who looks good in a tuxedo or whether this is the person who’s going to marry you and bury you.

You’re an actor who clearly knows how to perform for and benefit from the camera. Here, you have only your voice — was there a film or other project where you honed that weapon in your acting arsenal?

I made this Audible original called 10 days where I play a guy in the G League who gets a 10 day contract with the 76ers. And it’s really good, really good Rocky-esque. And I realized, as I was listening to it, that I had really misjudged the medium, and what you can do with the medium, in terms of the sound design and the attention, in terms of execution. I thought, Wow, there’s so much to do here, so much to play. The way the audience listens is just a level of engagement… You’re engaging your imagination, you know? You’re giving them a performance that has to be grounded in this scenario, so you have to use your imagination to do that and then trust that they’ll finish it on their own. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s like performing a play, from beginning to end, but inside someone’s head. It’s cool. So I was just really excited when we produced this, on the level of the storytelling and the acting — it was complex and fun.

The best man’s ghostwriter premieres on Audible on September 12th.