Glen Powell will do blockbusters, just not Marvel or Jurassic Park

A new profile in The Hollywood Reporter makes clear that Glen Powell has been working hard to become a bonafide Movie Star his entire career. In fact, Ryan Murphy says he kept trying to cast him after Scream Queens but Powell turned him down. (“He could have done any TV series, but he made it clear that he was chasing something,” the famed producer shares. “And I’d get a little mad at him, like, ‘What do you mean you’re waiting? What are you doing?’ But he was smart, and he was right.”) Powell’s star power and savvy got him into Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, and this summer’s Twisters. But his savvy also has him passing on potentially big parts, like a Bourne Identity reboot and the new Jurassic Park.

“Jurassic is one of my favorite movies. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I’m not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn’t help it,” Powell tells the outlet. “And the script’s great. The movie’s going to fucking kill. It’s not about that. It’s about choosing where you’re going to make an audience happy and where you’re going to make yourself happy.”

The profile also mentions he’s decided not to do any “pandering Oscar bait” or “Marvel fare.” For a guy who nearly went broke trying to break big (Powell says he was in financial peril during the pandemic waiting for Maverick to come out), it’s interesting Powell would seek to avoid Hollywood’s biggest studio. But Powell seems single-minded about becoming a movie star in the old-school style, and as Quentin Tarantino once observed, Marvel doesn’t make movie stars. Powell, who has an “icon wisdom” journal of advice Hollywood mentors have passed on to him, would be much more likely to listen to an established “icon” like Tarantino than anybody else. (The icon most quoted in Powell’s journal is reportedly his friend and biggest inspiration, Tom Cruise, who is also a devotee of the old Hollywood ways.)

It sounds like Powell now has plenty of offers coming in that he can afford to be choosy. Plus, he’s creating his own opportunities for himself as a writer and producer. He’ll next be seen in the buzzy Richard Linklater comedy Hit Man on Netflix, which he also co-wrote and produced. He’s also apparently writing a Broadway musical. “That’s the funniest part about this moment,” he reflects. “I’ve worked really hard for a long time, putting things together and just trying to get them in shape enough for people to give a shit. Then you get to a place where people are just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ and suddenly you’re playing musical chairs with yourself. You’re like, ‘Wait, do I sit in all these chairs right now?’”