Tom Cruise doesn’t like women. Neither does Miles Teller. Channing Tatum likes women. So does Ryan Gosling. Brad Pitt used to like women but doesn’t anymore. Leonardo Di Caprio only likes them occasionally. Bradley Cooper doesn’t, George Clooney does. Matt Damon doesn’t, Ben Affleck only does in that one scene in the J.Lo documentary. Marlon Brando didn’t, Montgomery Clift did. Paul Newman didn’t onscreen but did IRL. Cary Grant did, John Wayne definitely, definitely didn’t. Will Smith pretends like he doesn’t but I’m not convinced. Mark Wahlberg absolutely does not, but Daniel Day-Lewis does. So does Paul Mescal.
- I would love more discourse about why this is! This list is so right. This definitely has to be a topic in the future please.
I was just explaining to my husband that this distinction, as described, is also a way that I distinguish between men in our lives! He has some friends who he is really close with but who I have never cared for because they seem blatantly disinterested in myself or other women. He has other friends who I immediately had a good impression of and it was totally about their manners and respect and the way they relate to everyone in the room.
I was just in Italy for two weeks and I was saying to my husband there was a quality about many of the men I interacted with there (mostly tour guides) that I really enjoyed. I had to give some thought to what it was, but eventually I realized...they appreciate women. They weren't hitting on me, they didn't give the impression they were attracted to me even, but they looked at me when I spoke and listened and engaged in this really great way, and this applied to younger men (our boat tour guide was 16), men in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It felt great and then it made me sad that I do not have these sorts of interactions very often in my daily life in Canada. :(
I realized this is true with all of our couple friends! I refuse to hang out with men in my limited spare time who are gross, weird, or can't talk to me like I'm a full fledged human being and not a fem-bot. It rules out a surprising number of dad's in our neighborhood/school.
We moved from a small town that prided itself on “traditional values,” and your comment reminded me of that experience. I wasn’t treated like a sentient person by many men who claimed to *respect* women (in the Christian-Conservative sense, I gather) and they sure as heck didn’t *like* any all that much.
I would argue Bradley Cooper THINKS he likes women (he would be SHOCKED to hear you say it to his face) but the only woman he ever liked was Gaga. Would argue the same for Leo and Kate Winslet!
Bradley Cooper made a whole thing about billing Carey Mullingan first in his Leonard Bernstein movie MAESTRO, which felt like a stunt. The movie does a better job of centering her than some, but it's still the same playbook "wife of a great man" story. Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar after playing his co-star in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, would be interesting to go back and see what his press was like around that. Bradley Cooper wants you to think he likes women but I don't know if he actually does.
I just rewatched A Start is Born on a plane ride and Gaga was soooo good in that movie. But it bothers me that she likely felt it was all due to Bradley Cooper's influence. She has major star power and acting skills and while he might have had something to do with it, I think she would be amazing in most anything she was in. She is so real.
Yes, this paragraph! This is amazing and such an important lens. I'm just like that's it, that's a major explanatory factor in which male actors I like and which I don't, and I had never stopped and put my finger on it and now I know.
I can't believe I'm the first to say that Keanu Reeves was my immediate first choice addition to this list. He's the only male celebrity that I feel just as warmly about now as I did 35 years ago and it's probably because he one of the few from his cohort that still likes women in 2024.
AHP does it again. I've been telling anyone who would listen for months that Glen Powell is The Millennial Movie Star, but I never managed to articulate this part, and it wasn't until she got to Channing Tatum that I realized I know EXACTLY what this is and it is ABSOLUTELY true.
Yes! The Kelce brothers, Tom Holland, Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, Michael B. Jordan, Common, Glen Powell, etc. all fit this framing. The men who are shocked that they aren't being given endless second chances among the wider public generally don't - Justin Timberlake is probably the best example here!
Ahhh this is why I like the Kelce brothers, even though I have zero patience for football players or the NFL!! So smart. I didn’t understand it until now.
Less than a year ago I was saying to my husband that we need another Kevin Costner - someone who does excellent sports movies and is ruggedly handsome, yet kinda approachable. I think Glen Powell could fill those shoes (cleats?), but also has more range than Kevin Costner. Also, does Kevin like women? It’s not clear to me.
KC is a definite "doesn't like women" for me--or rather, a "girl dad" type as has been mentioned downthread for Ryan Reynolds. Costner seems like if you're one of "his" ladies, he'd treat you like gold, but that value would be dependent on your relationship to him.
I based it on reports from Meryl Streep and Glenn Close working with him on Out of Africa and The Natural. But upon further research, it seems Jane Fonda has a different perspective!
Tom cruise liked women in the 80s and I'm convinced that was a huge part of his star power. He LIKED Kelly McGillis and Nicole Kidman in his early movies not just wanted to sleep with them. I hadn't picked up on it as a kid but so did Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early days - kindergarten cop is a pretty feminist movie!
I've seen all these Cruise movies multiple times for when I was writing a chapter on his star image a billion years ago and I think you're SORTA right? But then it really starts to fade even in the late '80s/early '90s, and he definitely doesn't like women by the time we get to JERRY MAGUIRE.
I LOVE this list. (Esp that you included DDL. As a longtime fan, I’m so glad you gave me a new way to understand his attractiveness.)
But I will edit it to say that Paul Newman certainly liked Joanne Woodward on screen! “Long Hot Summer”?? The way he looks at her through the window? UNPARALLELED. 🥵
“He wears the Top Gun uniform better than Tom Cruise, which is to say, he wears it like Val Kilmer.” I’m dead, AHP. THANK YOU FOR THIS. I have been banging the Glen Powell is a Movie Star drum since 2016's Everybody Wants Some!!
I don't think its necessary for star power but it feels related to Glen Powell's sense of awareness and intention — he also seems like a genuinely nice person?! I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of "Hit Man" in Austin, where he was also inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, and almost his entire acceptance speech was naming and thanking the teachers who had encouraged him to perform, all of whom he had invited and were sitting in the audience with his family. I was like ... 'this might be an op but it's working on me.'
I've been on the Glen Powell train since "Set it Up" [this is your message to cast Zoey Deutsch in more things, Hollywood]. Your analysis about how he just *likes* women is spot on. Total Ryan Gosling vibes. I've started clear of "Anyone But You" (Sydney Sweeney oversaturation) but this convinced me to check it out.
My god this article inspired me to finally watch Anyone But You and what was I waiting for?! Such a fantastic movie. Love them together, the whole cast was incredible, and Glen… magic! 😍
Right?? Gosling cries in his car to All Too Well! Emily Blunt is FUNNY as every ghosted woman but with a megaphone and a captive audience! And Hannah Waddington is a massively over the top producer/evil genius!! Truly what is not to love. Instant new favorite movie.
Have to differ from AHP on this--I LOVE Set It Up but I couldn't stand Anyone But You (possibly because I love the Shakespearean source material so much). I didn't like the rest of the cast (Sydney Sweeney is a mush mouth and you won't change my mind). Watch it for Glen Powell and the Australian scenery and you won't be disappointed, but don't expect anything more 🤷🏼♀️
There is something odd about her face that I can't place, but between that and her failure to pronounce words (when her literal job is....being recorded while talking) I haven't liked her in anything yet.
DNF Anyone But You last night. Sydney Sweeney is a terrible actor. Glen Powell is soooo much better. But even his immense star wattage couldn't manufacture chemistry with her. And the awkward Shakespearian structure / forced connections were just painful.
That was Hidden Figures for me; he just had so much damn charisma as John Glenn. I appreciated learning more about his discernment re: roles because I don’t recall seeing him in anything after the above until Top Gun Maverick. Perhaps that’s why I’m okay drinking from the fire hydrant that is the current Glen Powell media cycle. That, and everything about Hit Man.
Really glad you got into the Texas of it all. There is a specific variety of conventional attractive but off-kilter, classic life of the party but has a bell hooks book on his shelf Texas progressive White guy whose charm comes from this simultaneous subversion and reinforcement of stereotypes of "what a dude is like" (the circa 80s/90s archetype of an Austin guy, but not just confined there). Now, there are "surprisingly progressive guys who look like they could be cowboys" in every Western state, but that variety of dude in Montana is different-- the archetype is still more understated/stoic/cowboy poet than shotgun a beer and then be like "whoa whoa whoa, we don't talk about women like that." When I first met Texan dude friends like that (after a teenhood spent watching Linklater movies) I was like "oh damn, he didn't make up This Guy."
This part of it is really fascinating to me. It makes me wonder how much of the Hollywood "make Glen Powell happen" thing is part of a cultural backlash to more representation and acceptance of gender fluidity. Like how much of Glen Powell's movie star-ness is that he reminds us of old (both 50/60s and 90s/00s) Hollywood masculinity, especially the cowboys? Have there been too many starts who are too feminine (Timothy Chalamet) or too European (Paul Mescal) or too gay (Andrew Scott) or too not male (Emma D'arcy on HOD last week)? And is Glen Powell's (perceived) liberalism just a palatable way to get progressive women back on board with traditional masculinity? (All of this is not a comment Glen Powell as a person, who I hope is truly progressive because we need more men who like him who authentically support women!)
This isn’t the main point of the post, but aside from “Set it Up”, which I love, here are my favorite rom coms from the past 10 years. Curious about what other people have liked recently, since I often see rom coms from the 1990s and 2000s dominate best-of lists:
1. Sleeping with Other People
The aching way Alison Brie calls Jason Sudeikis “Baby” in a scene near the end, wow
2. Plus One
There’s a scene early on where Maya Erskine demands Jack Quaid scratch her back while they are platonically sharing a bed while away at a wedding that is uproarious and establishes their chemistry right away
3. I Want You Back
The star turn Jenny Slate deserved. She and Charlie Day scheme to help one another get back together with their respective exes. Her character’s dedication to the mission is absolute. It’s nice that the film doesn’t lean into gross-out humor or misogyny the way a rom com 10 years prior might have
4. Palm Springs
Andy Samberg, so charming! I like that the film raises the stakes by placing the characters in an existential crisis, while still managing to nail the tone of a romantic comedy.
EXCELLENT list, fellow Catherine. Plus One especially is such a solid down-to-earth romcom, Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid's characters feel like people I know in real life.
About 25 years ago my business communications professor asked the class what gave George Clooney such presence…I think of his one word answer all the time: Posture.
To butcher a recent quote - "My favorite thing about this movie star is that he feels like a movie star." I think you nailed it particularly with how Powell does his homework. I really enjoyed the GQ profile of him that came out earlier this year, which really highlighted that he's been around the block in Hollywood and has a plan for the long game. That piece also had GREAT anecdotes about his working relationship - and friendship! - with Tom Cruise, which I think is so intriguing. Like yes, we all see Tom Cruise as ridiculous these days, but dude knows how to be a movie star, and it's clear Powell is learning from the best. There's a story that Cruise invited Powell to a movie theater to watch a homemade documentary about everything Cruise has learned about filmmaking. Powell was the only one in the theater! It was a 6-hour documentary! And he stayed for the whole thing!!
I think Glen Powell likes to work the way Taylor Swift likes to work. That story is a great example — he’s in this because he’s good at it and wants to always be better at it. And that’s fun to watch!
I am so intrigued by the idea of this six hour long home made documentary - like….. whaaat? What is in it? How was it put together? Is it lots of Tom cruise narrating?!?!
I have not paid close attention to the rise of Glen Powell but every time I remind myself of who he is, I think "Oh, right, Hidden Figures. He was good in that." Really a case of a small role he did a lot with.
Realizing as I read this that he is in a very high proportion of the recent movies that I've had the passing thought I might enjoy.
Yes! Came here just to see if others would mention his memorable turn as John Glenn, and a good example of how he likes women. I expected him to rise faster after that role, because it sure stuck with me long after I forgot Kevin Costner was even in Hidden Figures.
I saw a tweet recently to the effect of "Glen Powell looks like a movie star, but he also looks like he could work at your local Menards" and that's exactly it, along with literally everything written in this piece.
The one I saw that was hilarious is 'Glen Powell is the hot guy when he's in a group of smart guys and the smart guy when he's in a group of hot guys' and...yup!
That's why I found him convincing as an office grunt / assistant in Set it Up. He also has this thing, where he looks really good, but he can also look more regular Joe -- like an earnestly cute dude in your office, but isn't too good looking like McConaughey or Pitt would've been. In that case, Powell seems to share Colin Farrell's ability to shut off the beauty in certain roles, moments/scenes.
Glen Powell sort of fits my Travis Kelce assessment which is that he's really hot because he just seems like he'd be a ton of fun to be around and be with.
Glen Powell plays the jilted lover in “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”, and while he successfully comes across as controlling and abrasive, he also fails to read as a bad guy. On the one hand I think this is a smart career move for him to avoid getting pigeon-holed. And on the other, it’s almost sinister how well he can hold onto his good guy status. I hope he continues to earn it, Gosling style.
I fully agree that it seems like Powell has done the homework in a way that so many others haven't. He was also good in scream queens and can play both funny/serious roles equally well without overacting, which is rare. I think he's got the same gift of a lot of other 'heartthrob' stars - he makes good, meaningful eye contact with his love interest AND conveys that he enjoys being around her as a person and not just a conquest. Most k-drama stars have this down but it is surprisingly hard to find young male actors who can pull it off. Heck, not even all the Shonda Rhymes male actors can nail it and that should be their main job! I agree that I think it takes a level of humility and openness that is rarer these days!
Speaking of Shondaland male leads, I commend Corey Mylchreest in Queen Charlotte for making good, meaningful eye contact with India Amarteifio -- he's like a taller Tom Cruise who can act more convincingly with others.
Okay but…does anyone else think of the dam when they hear Glen Powell’s name? Glen Canyon is the name of the dam at the mouth of Lake Powell and so Glen + Powell is eternally mashed up with western water wars in my mind. In my sleep-addled state reading the headline of this email, I thought it was an environmental piece 😂
I originally confused Glen Powell with Glenn Close and when I saw this in my inbox was really curious what she'd been up to that merited an AHP thought piece. I soon realized I had the wrong Glen/Glenn. lol.
Tom Cruise doesn’t like women. Neither does Miles Teller. Channing Tatum likes women. So does Ryan Gosling. Brad Pitt used to like women but doesn’t anymore. Leonardo Di Caprio only likes them occasionally. Bradley Cooper doesn’t, George Clooney does. Matt Damon doesn’t, Ben Affleck only does in that one scene in the J.Lo documentary. Marlon Brando didn’t, Montgomery Clift did. Paul Newman didn’t onscreen but did IRL. Cary Grant did, John Wayne definitely, definitely didn’t. Will Smith pretends like he doesn’t but I’m not convinced. Mark Wahlberg absolutely does not, but Daniel Day-Lewis does. So does Paul Mescal.
- I would love more discourse about why this is! This list is so right. This definitely has to be a topic in the future please.
The way we all immediately understood this paragraph even if we can't articulate why
I was just explaining to my husband that this distinction, as described, is also a way that I distinguish between men in our lives! He has some friends who he is really close with but who I have never cared for because they seem blatantly disinterested in myself or other women. He has other friends who I immediately had a good impression of and it was totally about their manners and respect and the way they relate to everyone in the room.
I was just in Italy for two weeks and I was saying to my husband there was a quality about many of the men I interacted with there (mostly tour guides) that I really enjoyed. I had to give some thought to what it was, but eventually I realized...they appreciate women. They weren't hitting on me, they didn't give the impression they were attracted to me even, but they looked at me when I spoke and listened and engaged in this really great way, and this applied to younger men (our boat tour guide was 16), men in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It felt great and then it made me sad that I do not have these sorts of interactions very often in my daily life in Canada. :(
I realized this is true with all of our couple friends! I refuse to hang out with men in my limited spare time who are gross, weird, or can't talk to me like I'm a full fledged human being and not a fem-bot. It rules out a surprising number of dad's in our neighborhood/school.
We moved from a small town that prided itself on “traditional values,” and your comment reminded me of that experience. I wasn’t treated like a sentient person by many men who claimed to *respect* women (in the Christian-Conservative sense, I gather) and they sure as heck didn’t *like* any all that much.
I would argue Bradley Cooper THINKS he likes women (he would be SHOCKED to hear you say it to his face) but the only woman he ever liked was Gaga. Would argue the same for Leo and Kate Winslet!
Bradley Cooper made a whole thing about billing Carey Mullingan first in his Leonard Bernstein movie MAESTRO, which felt like a stunt. The movie does a better job of centering her than some, but it's still the same playbook "wife of a great man" story. Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar after playing his co-star in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, would be interesting to go back and see what his press was like around that. Bradley Cooper wants you to think he likes women but I don't know if he actually does.
Bradley Cooper lost me for good after that story about him wiping the makeup off of Gaga's face. So gross and he would never understand why.
I just rewatched A Start is Born on a plane ride and Gaga was soooo good in that movie. But it bothers me that she likely felt it was all due to Bradley Cooper's influence. She has major star power and acting skills and while he might have had something to do with it, I think she would be amazing in most anything she was in. She is so real.
Oh yeahhhh. This is spot on, for both.
Yes, this paragraph! This is amazing and such an important lens. I'm just like that's it, that's a major explanatory factor in which male actors I like and which I don't, and I had never stopped and put my finger on it and now I know.
Ditto!! Came here to say the exact same thing!!
I can't believe I'm the first to say that Keanu Reeves was my immediate first choice addition to this list. He's the only male celebrity that I feel just as warmly about now as I did 35 years ago and it's probably because he one of the few from his cohort that still likes women in 2024.
OMG yes
YES!! My first thought too.
Honestly, this ‘likes women’ paragraph is just one of the sharpest things I’ve read in a while - the way we can FEEL it while reading it
Same. I screenshotted and sent my group text-- response was a uniform "oh, WOW"
AHP does it again. I've been telling anyone who would listen for months that Glen Powell is The Millennial Movie Star, but I never managed to articulate this part, and it wasn't until she got to Channing Tatum that I realized I know EXACTLY what this is and it is ABSOLUTELY true.
Yes! The Kelce brothers, Tom Holland, Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, Michael B. Jordan, Common, Glen Powell, etc. all fit this framing. The men who are shocked that they aren't being given endless second chances among the wider public generally don't - Justin Timberlake is probably the best example here!
Paul Rudd--likes women.
Paul Rudd for sure!
Loved his chemistry with Aisling Bea in Living with Yourself.
Okay adding mine to the list... Stanley Tucci, Pedro Pascal, and Oscar Isaac like women.
Also Joseph Gordon-Leavitt
And John Krasinky.
Ahhh this is why I like the Kelce brothers, even though I have zero patience for football players or the NFL!! So smart. I didn’t understand it until now.
100%
Less than a year ago I was saying to my husband that we need another Kevin Costner - someone who does excellent sports movies and is ruggedly handsome, yet kinda approachable. I think Glen Powell could fill those shoes (cleats?), but also has more range than Kevin Costner. Also, does Kevin like women? It’s not clear to me.
KC is a definite "doesn't like women" for me--or rather, a "girl dad" type as has been mentioned downthread for Ryan Reynolds. Costner seems like if you're one of "his" ladies, he'd treat you like gold, but that value would be dependent on your relationship to him.
Right? There’s the Bodyguard and Field of Dreams (opposite Amy Madigan), but then the Yellowstone of it all.
Can’t stop thinking about this, other male actors that don’t like women:
Robert Pattinson
Zach Braff
Chris Pratt (I think he USED to during prime Parks and Rec years but his fitness transformation was a big catalyst that changed him completely)
Tom Hardy. Russell Crowe.
I know it’s not what this piece is about, but I’d add that Robert Redford seems to like women.
I dithered! I love love love Redford but I’m not wholly convinced.
I based it on reports from Meryl Streep and Glenn Close working with him on Out of Africa and The Natural. But upon further research, it seems Jane Fonda has a different perspective!
De Niro definitely DOES NOT like women.
So good! I haven’t seen a list this spot on since the original primer on BDE from The Cut 😂. A+
Not a movie star per se, but I’d put Andrew Scott (aka Hot Priest) in the Likes Women category.
And a good example that it has nothing to do with your sexuality/whether or not you want to sleep with women!
https://www.thecut.com/2018/06/pete-davidson-ariana-grande-big-dick-energy.html
Tom cruise liked women in the 80s and I'm convinced that was a huge part of his star power. He LIKED Kelly McGillis and Nicole Kidman in his early movies not just wanted to sleep with them. I hadn't picked up on it as a kid but so did Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early days - kindergarten cop is a pretty feminist movie!
I've seen all these Cruise movies multiple times for when I was writing a chapter on his star image a billion years ago and I think you're SORTA right? But then it really starts to fade even in the late '80s/early '90s, and he definitely doesn't like women by the time we get to JERRY MAGUIRE.
That makes sense. I think it correlates with how into Scientology he got tbh
Yes! I am so, so fascinated by this, especially by the fact that I know exactly what it means.
I came here to paste that paragraph and ask for more! So true and hard to know why... But, yes!
I was just about to copy and paste to say how much I loved this - so true. Got it all. Something about how they talk “to” rather than “at”?
Yes!! This paragraph is amazing.
I LOVE this list. (Esp that you included DDL. As a longtime fan, I’m so glad you gave me a new way to understand his attractiveness.)
But I will edit it to say that Paul Newman certainly liked Joanne Woodward on screen! “Long Hot Summer”?? The way he looks at her through the window? UNPARALLELED. 🥵
“He wears the Top Gun uniform better than Tom Cruise, which is to say, he wears it like Val Kilmer.” I’m dead, AHP. THANK YOU FOR THIS. I have been banging the Glen Powell is a Movie Star drum since 2016's Everybody Wants Some!!
The flight suit was just *chef's kiss*
Yes. And the jorts comment! Here for this.
I don't think its necessary for star power but it feels related to Glen Powell's sense of awareness and intention — he also seems like a genuinely nice person?! I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of "Hit Man" in Austin, where he was also inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, and almost his entire acceptance speech was naming and thanking the teachers who had encouraged him to perform, all of whom he had invited and were sitting in the audience with his family. I was like ... 'this might be an op but it's working on me.'
Similarly, that he has his parents at every premiere and his family visits him on every set--and that they always seem to be having fun together.
I've been on the Glen Powell train since "Set it Up" [this is your message to cast Zoey Deutsch in more things, Hollywood]. Your analysis about how he just *likes* women is spot on. Total Ryan Gosling vibes. I've started clear of "Anyone But You" (Sydney Sweeney oversaturation) but this convinced me to check it out.
Oh you’ll like it! It’s actually good!
My god this article inspired me to finally watch Anyone But You and what was I waiting for?! Such a fantastic movie. Love them together, the whole cast was incredible, and Glen… magic! 😍
Ryan Gosling in Fall Guy has this too. He likes women and he is in on the joke. I couldn't explain why I loved that movie so much until now.
SO TRUE on both counts.
I was so surprised it didn't do better. Lots of stuff blows up, and two insanely charming people flirting away?!
Right?? Gosling cries in his car to All Too Well! Emily Blunt is FUNNY as every ghosted woman but with a megaphone and a captive audience! And Hannah Waddington is a massively over the top producer/evil genius!! Truly what is not to love. Instant new favorite movie.
Have to differ from AHP on this--I LOVE Set It Up but I couldn't stand Anyone But You (possibly because I love the Shakespearean source material so much). I didn't like the rest of the cast (Sydney Sweeney is a mush mouth and you won't change my mind). Watch it for Glen Powell and the Australian scenery and you won't be disappointed, but don't expect anything more 🤷🏼♀️
I can't agree more. I felt like Sydney Sweeney was miscast here and I just couldn't feel any sympathy for her. She just seems like a mean girl to me.
She's so beautiful but soooo bland.
There is something odd about her face that I can't place, but between that and her failure to pronounce words (when her literal job is....being recorded while talking) I haven't liked her in anything yet.
Agreed, it’s terrible!
DNF Anyone But You last night. Sydney Sweeney is a terrible actor. Glen Powell is soooo much better. But even his immense star wattage couldn't manufacture chemistry with her. And the awkward Shakespearian structure / forced connections were just painful.
If you haven't, go watch Set It Up on Netflix instead. It is a genuinely excellent romcom with genuine chemistry (see comment below!)
It's my favorite! Total screwball comedy. Zoe Deutsch in Anyone But You would have made that movie less awful.
Zoey Deutsch and Glen Powell were freaking magic in that movie.
And she only got the role after he lobbied for her to be brought in!
No way! He truly does like women.
I also loved Set It Off - his performance almost from the first scene made me think, who is this guy?
That was Hidden Figures for me; he just had so much damn charisma as John Glenn. I appreciated learning more about his discernment re: roles because I don’t recall seeing him in anything after the above until Top Gun Maverick. Perhaps that’s why I’m okay drinking from the fire hydrant that is the current Glen Powell media cycle. That, and everything about Hit Man.
Really glad you got into the Texas of it all. There is a specific variety of conventional attractive but off-kilter, classic life of the party but has a bell hooks book on his shelf Texas progressive White guy whose charm comes from this simultaneous subversion and reinforcement of stereotypes of "what a dude is like" (the circa 80s/90s archetype of an Austin guy, but not just confined there). Now, there are "surprisingly progressive guys who look like they could be cowboys" in every Western state, but that variety of dude in Montana is different-- the archetype is still more understated/stoic/cowboy poet than shotgun a beer and then be like "whoa whoa whoa, we don't talk about women like that." When I first met Texan dude friends like that (after a teenhood spent watching Linklater movies) I was like "oh damn, he didn't make up This Guy."
This part of it is really fascinating to me. It makes me wonder how much of the Hollywood "make Glen Powell happen" thing is part of a cultural backlash to more representation and acceptance of gender fluidity. Like how much of Glen Powell's movie star-ness is that he reminds us of old (both 50/60s and 90s/00s) Hollywood masculinity, especially the cowboys? Have there been too many starts who are too feminine (Timothy Chalamet) or too European (Paul Mescal) or too gay (Andrew Scott) or too not male (Emma D'arcy on HOD last week)? And is Glen Powell's (perceived) liberalism just a palatable way to get progressive women back on board with traditional masculinity? (All of this is not a comment Glen Powell as a person, who I hope is truly progressive because we need more men who like him who authentically support women!)
Fascinated by this line of query -- thanks for raising it!!
This isn’t the main point of the post, but aside from “Set it Up”, which I love, here are my favorite rom coms from the past 10 years. Curious about what other people have liked recently, since I often see rom coms from the 1990s and 2000s dominate best-of lists:
1. Sleeping with Other People
The aching way Alison Brie calls Jason Sudeikis “Baby” in a scene near the end, wow
2. Plus One
There’s a scene early on where Maya Erskine demands Jack Quaid scratch her back while they are platonically sharing a bed while away at a wedding that is uproarious and establishes their chemistry right away
3. I Want You Back
The star turn Jenny Slate deserved. She and Charlie Day scheme to help one another get back together with their respective exes. Her character’s dedication to the mission is absolute. It’s nice that the film doesn’t lean into gross-out humor or misogyny the way a rom com 10 years prior might have
4. Palm Springs
Andy Samberg, so charming! I like that the film raises the stakes by placing the characters in an existential crisis, while still managing to nail the tone of a romantic comedy.
Have you seen RYE LANE? We streamed on Hulu. Absolutely lovely, delightful, just *chef’s kiss*
Rye Lane is GREAT!
Thank you for reminding me about this film! I was just thinking that my list was a lacking in diversity. Going to watch ASAP, yay
Plus One and Palm Springs are so good!
EXCELLENT list, fellow Catherine. Plus One especially is such a solid down-to-earth romcom, Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid's characters feel like people I know in real life.
Ooh, definitely going to add these to my list, and I just remembered that I LOVED Plus One!
This is a v good must, but I would add one. The best romcom of the 2010s is THE LONG SHOT and I will die on this hill.
Thank you for the recommendation! I remember the trailer for this movie. Excited to check it out soon!
I Want Yo Back was a delight! And I don't usually get Jenny Slate's appeal. Such a good movie!!
I was so mad that they didn't kiss at the end though. Let Short King Charley Day kiss!!
About 25 years ago my business communications professor asked the class what gave George Clooney such presence…I think of his one word answer all the time: Posture.
To butcher a recent quote - "My favorite thing about this movie star is that he feels like a movie star." I think you nailed it particularly with how Powell does his homework. I really enjoyed the GQ profile of him that came out earlier this year, which really highlighted that he's been around the block in Hollywood and has a plan for the long game. That piece also had GREAT anecdotes about his working relationship - and friendship! - with Tom Cruise, which I think is so intriguing. Like yes, we all see Tom Cruise as ridiculous these days, but dude knows how to be a movie star, and it's clear Powell is learning from the best. There's a story that Cruise invited Powell to a movie theater to watch a homemade documentary about everything Cruise has learned about filmmaking. Powell was the only one in the theater! It was a 6-hour documentary! And he stayed for the whole thing!!
I think Glen Powell likes to work the way Taylor Swift likes to work. That story is a great example — he’s in this because he’s good at it and wants to always be better at it. And that’s fun to watch!
Was he allowed to get up and pee?
I am so intrigued by the idea of this six hour long home made documentary - like….. whaaat? What is in it? How was it put together? Is it lots of Tom cruise narrating?!?!
I've read your free snippets for awhile but you got me to fully subscribe with this one, you're doing God's work Anne. :)
I have not paid close attention to the rise of Glen Powell but every time I remind myself of who he is, I think "Oh, right, Hidden Figures. He was good in that." Really a case of a small role he did a lot with.
Realizing as I read this that he is in a very high proportion of the recent movies that I've had the passing thought I might enjoy.
Yes! Came here just to see if others would mention his memorable turn as John Glenn, and a good example of how he likes women. I expected him to rise faster after that role, because it sure stuck with me long after I forgot Kevin Costner was even in Hidden Figures.
Ohh I loved John Glenn in that movie! That was him?! I wondered who it was when I re-watched it last year.
Yes! I just remembered it because of the Glen/Glenn matchup
I saw a tweet recently to the effect of "Glen Powell looks like a movie star, but he also looks like he could work at your local Menards" and that's exactly it, along with literally everything written in this piece.
The one I saw that was hilarious is 'Glen Powell is the hot guy when he's in a group of smart guys and the smart guy when he's in a group of hot guys' and...yup!
The cultural specificity of Menards!
That's why I found him convincing as an office grunt / assistant in Set it Up. He also has this thing, where he looks really good, but he can also look more regular Joe -- like an earnestly cute dude in your office, but isn't too good looking like McConaughey or Pitt would've been. In that case, Powell seems to share Colin Farrell's ability to shut off the beauty in certain roles, moments/scenes.
Glen Powell sort of fits my Travis Kelce assessment which is that he's really hot because he just seems like he'd be a ton of fun to be around and be with.
Glen Powell plays the jilted lover in “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”, and while he successfully comes across as controlling and abrasive, he also fails to read as a bad guy. On the one hand I think this is a smart career move for him to avoid getting pigeon-holed. And on the other, it’s almost sinister how well he can hold onto his good guy status. I hope he continues to earn it, Gosling style.
Just saw that last week. His break up scene is terrific. That final kiss and then taking the champagne. Perfect.
Completely forgot about that.
I fully agree that it seems like Powell has done the homework in a way that so many others haven't. He was also good in scream queens and can play both funny/serious roles equally well without overacting, which is rare. I think he's got the same gift of a lot of other 'heartthrob' stars - he makes good, meaningful eye contact with his love interest AND conveys that he enjoys being around her as a person and not just a conquest. Most k-drama stars have this down but it is surprisingly hard to find young male actors who can pull it off. Heck, not even all the Shonda Rhymes male actors can nail it and that should be their main job! I agree that I think it takes a level of humility and openness that is rarer these days!
Speaking of Shondaland male leads, I commend Corey Mylchreest in Queen Charlotte for making good, meaningful eye contact with India Amarteifio -- he's like a taller Tom Cruise who can act more convincingly with others.
I love how you put this, and it’s part of the reason I’m glad Twisters ended the way it did (don’t want to spoil anything for anyone).
THE THINK PIECE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! PRAISE BE!!!
Okay but…does anyone else think of the dam when they hear Glen Powell’s name? Glen Canyon is the name of the dam at the mouth of Lake Powell and so Glen + Powell is eternally mashed up with western water wars in my mind. In my sleep-addled state reading the headline of this email, I thought it was an environmental piece 😂
I originally confused Glen Powell with Glenn Close and when I saw this in my inbox was really curious what she'd been up to that merited an AHP thought piece. I soon realized I had the wrong Glen/Glenn. lol.
The fact that he played John Glenn in Hidden Figures confused me about his name for longer than I care to admit.
I was just thinking about that an hour or two ago!!
@CH you are not alone in Glen + Powell = Colorado River, but we might be the only two!
I'm the third in this party! Glad to have found my people :)
So glad it’s not just me!!