He's charming, charismatic and makes for great internet gossip. He's Glen Powell, and he's here to stay. The 34-year-old actor took flight as the daring pilot Hangman in last year's Top Gun: Maverick, but his star has been on the rise for over a decade now. With his upcoming Twister and Butch Cassidy revivals, it looks as if the Texas native is our next big action hero. Best get acquainted, then: Here's everything you need to know about Powell, from his early days as a struggling actor to those pesky (let's be real, very juicy) Sydney Sweeney dating rumors. Movie star material, right here.
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Early Life and Spy Kids
Young Glen Powell and his sister Lauren. (Lauren Powell Whatton via Instagram)
Glen Thomas Powell Jr. was born on Oct. 21, 1988, in Austin, Texas. He is the middle of three children, flanked by sisters Lauren and Leslie. Powell is all about family, regularly posting loved-up snaps with his adorable nieces and nephews. He even took the kiddos to the premiere of his 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. He's the fun uncle, for sure.
Powell's first film role was the "long-fingered boy" in 2003's Spy Kids 3: Game Over, when the actor was just a teenager. A chain of small roles in TV series such as the Emmy-winning Gil Birmingham-starrer Into the West and in films including Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation filled out his early acting resume?. In high school, Powell played football and lacrosse, balancing school sports with sporadic acting roles.
Powell briefly attended the University of Texas, dropping out after completing his freshman year to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting. He remains a massive Longhorns fan, even speaking at the Class of 2023's graduation ceremony.
The Expendables and Scream Queens Breakout
Glen Powell as the lovable dandy Chad Radwell in Scream Queens. (FOX Image Collection via Getty Images)
The aspiring actor took gigs coaching high school football and basketball while trying to make it in L.A. All the while, he was winning small roles in shows such as C.S.I. Miami and NCIS, and in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy capper The Dark Knight Rises. Powell's stint as a no-name actor ended when he scored top billing in 2013's Red Wing, a Western romance co-starring late greats Bill Paxton and Luke Perry.
His real breakthrough was the Sylvester Stallone action pic The Expendables 3. The star-studded franchise entry also featured Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li. Powell has described filming the big-budget blockbuster as a pinch-me moment: "Obviously doing that, with icons who were the entire reason I got into the film business, just made it even more special," he reminisced in a 2016 interview. "Having dance parties with Antonio Banderas and Wesley Snipes, that's as good as it gets."
Powell's mix of action star bravado, classic heartthrob charm and serious comedic chops made him the perfect fit for the annoying but lovable Chad Radwell in the horror comedy series Scream Queens. The character gained something of a cult following, and Powell officially hit the mainstream.
Critical Acclaim and Top Gun: Maverick
Glen Powell as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick. (Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures/Paramount+)
Scream Queens was short-lived, but it cemented Powell's place in young Hollywood. He followed it up with a role in Linklater's Dazed and Confused sorta-sequel Everybody Wants Some!!, about a group of bro-ey college baseball players in the 1980s. But if the last few years of Powell's career prove anything, it's that the Texas native is excellent at bringing airborne heroes to life. He played astronaut John Glenn in the SAG Award-winning Hidden Figures. In 2022, he memorably rescued Tom Cruise in the role of Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick, and took flight yet again as a fighter pilot in the Korean War drama Devotion.
After undergoing flight training for Top Gun (which included lessons from Tom Cruise) Powell is now a licensed pilot.
Glen Powell's Love Life
Glen Powell with ex-girlfriend Gigi Paris and rumored flame Sydney Sweeney. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've no doubt seen the rumors that Powell, 34, is dating his new co-star, Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney, 25. A few lovey-dovey photos from the set of their upcoming rom-com Anyone But You, followed by some Instagram snaps of Sweeney with Powell's family ... at the zoo (I mean, come on), were enough to convince most idle celebrity watchers that the pair had made it official. Oh, then there was this:
Sydney Sweeney & Glen Powell ? pic.twitter.com/KTUdRTgghD
— Sydney Sweeney fans (@SSydneyBest) April 23, 2023
They are the moment!
While nothing has been confirmed, in April 2023, Powell split from his model girlfriend Gigi Paris, 30, whom he had dated since 2019. If this co-star romance isn't real, then it's the most powerful movie marketing since Brad and Angelina.
Twister Sequel and Butch Cassidy Revival
Glen Powell. (Emma McIntyre/WireImage)
In addition to the hotly anticipated Anyone But You (we're sweating, actually), Powell has some seriously awesome projects coming up. He's the lead in the upcoming Twister sequel, aptly named Twisters. The original film featured Paxton, Powell's former Red Wing co-star. In addition, he's starring opposite Andor actress Adria Arjona in Linklater's action comedy Hitman, which he also co-wrote. There anything this guy can't do?
Powell is also an executive producer on the still-untitled Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid revival series. And, most intriguingly, he's been writing the script for Captain Planet, about an environmentally friendly superhero, since at least 2016, when Leonardo DiCaprio boarded the film as a producer.
We'll certainly be seeing a lot more Glen Powell. Absolutely zero complaints here.
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