Glen Powell in Space

Your daily dose of earnestness

I had a new piece come out in the perfect print magazine Still Alive, which, as you would guess is for writing about those people who are still alive and your brain is like well, huh! In that case. I wrote about the incredible actress Ellen Burstyn and also about the way that presence can overcome the most pedestrian of interactions, i.e., participating in a press junket for a movie. The portrait of Burstyn is from painter Calli Ryan and it’s gorgeous.

Some chosen excerpts that may or may not be relevant to the current discourse.

Plus: as I am terrible at sharing my writing on average, or updating social sites or even my own, here are two recent-ish pieces, one on the creepy poster from twee French classic Amelie, and one on a night of heavy metal and contemplation, Despair Sanctuary. I hope you read both!

Next, if you were wondering who is Glen Powell and why is he everywhere, in Netflix movies and romcoms that are sleeper hits that make money, and big budget summer tentpole films, even if you — like me — have an inherent distrust of blond men? He is being foisted upon the media, mostly middlingly in the way that media isn’t great in 2024, but he is also very much a movie star, and as Anne Helen Petersen writes, some of it comes from the fact that he clearly likes women: “It's palpable in the way Powell looks at all these women — he really, intently focuses on them, which is a surprisingly rare thing onscreen and in real life.”

I realized that I had a tiny red carpet interview sitting around in my archives, around the time that I was doing a lot of red carpet and party reporting and got to do a fun one for the excellent film Hidden Figures, where we discussed what it’s like to go to space in what is, essentially, a diving bell. (I also got to talk to so many astronauts, the best people in the world!) Powell was in the film playing a young John Glenn* and going to space and he was earnest and hot on the red carpet. (Honestly more magnetic IRL than in photos, as far as I can see.) Let it be known that Glen Powell gives good interview even when he’s 9th billed!

To whit:

Me: Did you get to meet John Glenn?

Glen Powell: We were trying to set that up – this movie went into production very quickly – as we were trying to get up there, his health was declining, and we pushed it and figured we’d wait a little bit and kept pushing. I never got the chance to meet him, but I really think he’d be proud of this movie. The cool part of it is that John’s story has been told a lot but this part of John’s history has not been told, and the fact that he was such a supporter of strong, intelligent women. You couldn’t have a stronger legacy or a more heroic figure. And the fact that he was part of this amazing moment, this moment that represents him in a lot of ways, and also this amazing moment that represent United States history and Katherine Johnson’s moment where she came to shine, and is part of what makes us great as a country, what we can accomplish when we put this crap to the side and come together.

Me: Now we can get to the stars! Was there any research that was striking?

GP: He gets categorized as kind of an aw shucks guy — he was a good old boy, he could hang with the guys, and this moment in history was the most surprising part. When people read the script I think they’re surprised that would happen, and they questioned a lot of moments and they’re all validated.

The moment he shared with Katherine Johnson, and the fact that he was supporting women long before it was popular – that’s a surprising fact, and that’s a fact that people should take away from this. You shouldn’t support people who just look like you, you should support people because they’re great. Here and here, that’s all that matters. [He motions to the head and the heart.]

Me: (I definitely had a preamble where we talked about diving bells and he nodded and was so intent and responsive) I can’t believe we went to space in something so tiny!

GP: I went to Space X and did a bunch of research, just to kind of figure out what that excitement feels like. I was walking around and went in the dragon, which is what they’re about to launch. And they’re like oh no, this is about twice the size. Then you go and look at the friendship seven, and it’s a little coffin on top of a ballistic missile. It’s not comfortable, it’s not glamorous, but that was the technology that got us up there. It’s terrifying. It’s more terrifying to look at. People ask would you go to space, and I go, I would feel very confident in space now.

Back then, that was a real ballsy move.

*If your name is Glen and you’re playing a guy with the last name Glenn? Would your brain just melt and fall out of your ears every day? Mine would!

I also got to talk to Leland Melvin, who is hot and a delight and you may know him from this picture, which I leave to your thirsty eyeballs: