By now you’ve seen Set It Up, right? Back in the day, rom-coms made stars out of actors. That stopped happening but… could it start happening again? Will it happen for Glen Powell? Glen’s been working steadily the last few years. And he’s worked in some high-profile features. The spotlight from those projects, however, didn’t land on him – and it wasn’t his to benefit from. Set It Up, however, was definitely a showcase for what he can bring. And around the time Set It Up was released on Netflix, it was reported that he was being considered for the Goose Jr role in the Top Gun sequel. The role, as we know, eventually went to Miles Teller and, as Sarah wrote in her post, “we do not deserve Glen Powell”.
What does Glen Powell deserve though?
According to The Hollywood Reporter Glen will actually be in Top Gun 2, or whatever it is that they’re going to call it.
In June, young Hollywood actors were champing at the bit to play the son of Goose, Maverick’s wingman who dies in a tragic accident in the original movie. The testing process, which involved flying to Cruise’s home in Clearwater, Florida, saw the finalists come down to Powell and Teller, with Teller ultimately winning.
But Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and execs at Paramount and Skydance were so impressed with Powell that they tried to find another part for the actor. In fact, the movie’s makers are so intent on having Powell that they are beefing up the role for him.
First of all, hat tip to Borys Kit, who wrote the THR article about this story, for the correct use of “champing”. “Chomping” is what we hear now most often so it’s become acceptable, but the expression was originally introduced as “champing”. (I’m done being a pedant now.)
And hat tip to Glen Powell for showing his work, during the audition, obviously, but afterwards as well. Which, as I say often on our podcast, Show Your Work, has real life application. In fact, it’s happened to me. I used to work at Covenant House Vancouver and I first interviewed for a Development Officer position. The job went to someone else, someone who was more suited to it. But I gav’er, I left everything in that room, and I let them know how badly I wanted to work there. So in the end, even though I didn’t get the job I applied for, they put me in a position that they thought matched my skill-set, allowing me to gain the experience I needed to eventually move up to Development Officer, which happened the next year.
Glen Powell may not have been right for whatever they’re looking for in Goose Jr. But they know he’s too good to not be in their movie. So they’re making space for him, they’re creating space for him. And it certainly didn’t hurt that he took the news that he did not get the Goose Jr part. Remember his tweet?
I’m taking down all the Tom Cruise posters in my bedroom. Maybe, I’ll leave one. Two for symmetry. Okay, the posters are staying. https://t.co/7gCpNLJCcz
— Glen Powell (@glenpowell) July 3, 2018
Perfect reaction. Clever, smart, and gracious. It tells them that he’d have a good attitude on set. It tells them that he’s worth the investment. And now he goes in there in the best possible situation – to play a part that he, literally, made. A part built with his own DNA. Which is really, really, really hot, non?