Who Does Glen Powell Attribute to Changing Hollywood's Leading Man?

Being a leading man in Hollywood is very hard. First, you have to break in, then you need to sustain your success, and finally, you have to continue to challenge yourself so that people don't get tired of watching you.

And if there's one leading man doing it better than anyone else right now, it's Glen Powell.

Let's dive in.

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Who is Responsible for Glen Powell's Stardom?

Powell is the prototypical movie star, a jacked dude with a great smile and incredible line delivery. But he also has a funny side, one that can charm the audience into being on his side, even if his character is doing questionable things.

And for that, it would be easy for Powell to say it's all him. But in a recent GQ interview, Powell generously said he wasn't the first guy to do that.

“I remember when Chris Pratt broke out in Guardians of the Galaxy,” Powell said. “There’s no doubt it really helped—not being brooding or dark. Like, I’m not Christian Bale. Christian Bale has a gravitas and a weight, and Pattinson had his thing. And when Pratt kind of appeared on the scene, where he was doing things that were a little more silly and buoyant, that’s where I feel most at home. And that’s where I feel like I had a gear that is a necessary flavor in terms of Hollywood, and not a gear that a lot of guys can play.”

I think this is a valid deconstruction of the two types of leading men in Hollywood. There are the very serious guys and the charming guys. And very few people can do both.

Why Powell Works

Powell succeeds because he's light enough to let us in and gritty enough for us to pick him in a fight. I also think his personality and willingness to be goofy are assets.

But he's probably right that, before Pratt, we had a lot more pragmatic leading men.

If you think about Hollywood, you have to think in cycles. Powell broke in during The Dark Knight and Nolan DC movies, which were gritty and real. And the biggest star was DiCaprio, who had charm but was focusing on more serious roles.

It took Pratt and a lot of the Marvel action hero actors to come out and lighten things up to make room for other leading men.

That room led us to where we are now. And it'll be interesting to see how Powell crafts his career as these cycles inevitably change. Maybe he'll do the DiCaprio and chase awards then.

But one thing is for sure, he has the versatility to do whatever.

Let me know what you think in the comments.