Getty Image / Dia Dipasupil
Glen Powell is on track to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood but he was relatively unknown until landing the breakthrough role of ‘Hangman’ in Top Gun: Maverick, a role he was eventually paid handsomely for but which took some time and nearly caused him to go broke in the process.
Prior to playing ‘Hangman’ in Top Gun: Maverick, the Austin, Texas-born Glen Powell was probably best known for appearing in 16 episodes of Scream Queens. He’s been a working actor in Hollywood for decades. His first credited role was in Spy Kids 3: Game Over, but Powell didn’t get his breakthrough role until Top Gun.
The success of that film immediately landed Glen some high-profile roles including co-starring in the RomCom Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney as well as the star of the upcoming Twisters, Chad Powers, and Running Man. Prior to all of this, Glen tells The Hollywood Reporter he was nearly broke due to Tom Cruise’s decision to delay the blockbuster during 2020. In lieu of a streaming release, Cruise wanted to sit on the film for two years to ensure a box office hit.
Powell spoke about it with THR, saying:
“He also learned how to make and market a blockbuster under the tutelage of his hero. Then the pandemic hit, and Cruise refused to let the studio dump Top Gun on a streamer. He knew he was sitting on a hit, and he had the leverage to hold out for what amounted to two years. Meanwhile, Powell was going broke. “I’d never made any significant amount of money on a movie, including Top Gun, and I was depleting a bank account to a point where my accountant was like, ‘This pandemic cannot last much longer,’ ” he says, acknowledging that the decision to wait for a theatrical release was ultimately the right one for the movie and the business at large. “But Tom was already Tom; I was waiting for my life to change.”
Powell almost didn’t appear in the film at all. He auditioned for the role of ‘Rooster’ which went to Miles Teller. The casting was down to Glen, Miles, Nicholas Hoult, and Austin Butler until Butler bowed out for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. When the role went to Miles Teller, Tom Cruise had to coax Glen Powell back to the film to play ‘Hangman’, a role that Glen would eventually have some control over.
But when 2020 hit, Powell had to sit idly by for two years waiting for Tom Cruise to release the film because Tom had complete control over that. It’s hard to imagine that Tom Cruise (net worth $600M) can wrap his mind around the financial stress the younger cast members would have felt over those two years but ultimately the film was released and earned $1.5 billion at the box office.
Glen reportedly earned $1 million for his role in Top Gun: Maverick. His salary demands have since gone up. He is reported to have earned $5 million for Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney, and according to US Weekly, Glen Powell receive another raise going forward after that film was a hit earning $212 million on a $25M budget.
It would be nice to see Glen and Sydney stick together for a few more films. They recently said they believe they’re the new version of a Hollywood duo so it’s quite possible we see them paired up a lot in the next decade.