Lewis Pullman, slow burn

As Lainey pointed out, Amanda Seyfried is campaigning for The Testament of Ann Lee. You know who isn’t campaigning? Her co-star, Lewis Pullman. He’s in New York, promoting the film alongside Amanda, he just isn’t throwing his hat in the already overcrowded Best Supporting Actor ring. 

You know what I like about Lewis Pullman the most? He is taking his time.

 

I started singing his praises after Top Gun: Maverick, and many of you caught on with his sexy nerd role in Lessons in Chemistry and still more boarded the Lewis Pullman train following his turn in Thunderbolts*, but Lewis Pullman is a slow burn. He is not going to get there overnight. And he seems genuinely fine with that. It’s charming! Sometimes ambition works for a person, it fits them like a nice suit (see also: Glen Powell), but sometimes you can just tell when someone needs to take their time to truly find their level. Pullman reminds me of Joel Edgerton, who at 51 is making his first serious charge at Oscar. It’s not like Joel Edgerton hasn’t been working for decades, he’s in plenty of stuff—and he directs, too—it just never seemed like his priority to chase trophies.

I don’t know if it will take Lewis Pullman twenty years to have a shot at Oscar, but right now, at 32, he certainly doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. He does, however, have some big stuff on the horizon. Next year he’s back in the cape for Avengers: Doomsday, and then in 2027 he’ll co-star with his father, Bill Pullman, in Spaceballs 2. Besides that, he’s got a film adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures and a rom-com with Maya Hawke lined up. He’s not overwhelmed with work—and let’s be honest, as a nepo baby money probably isn’t the consideration for him that it is for some others—but the work he’s getting is interesting, and he’s consistently good when he does turn up. He’ll get there, someday. Following Lewis Pullman is about the journey, not the destination. 

Here's Lewis in New York while promoting The Testament of Ann Lee.