Glen Powell names his five favourite movies of all time
Seemingly appearing out of thin air, many believe that the actor Glen Powell has been specifically engineered by Hollywood, Weird Science style, to be the quintessential American leading man. With the kind of physical appearance that would be worshipped by jocks across the country, Powell has also demonstrated that his face isn’t his only selling point, having quite the acting chops on him, too.
Despite popular belief, Powell has actually been around in Hollywood since the dawn of the new millennium, making his debut appearance in 2003’s Spy Kids 3: Game Over, where he was credited as playing the bizarre ‘Long-fingered Boy’. Things didn’t get all that much more exciting for Powell until he took a bit part in Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation, the actor’s first major feature film role.
Such allowed Powell to collaborate with Linklater a decade later on his Dazed and Confused follow-up, Everybody Wants Some, sparking Powell’s career in the Hollywood limelight. Following his appearance, Powell enjoyed key roles in Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick and 2023’s romantic comedy Anybody But You, where the star teamed up with the widely adored Sydney Sweeney for a film that threw audiences back to the romantic flicks of old.
Suddenly, Powell seems to be the most sought-after actor in the industry, gaining a hoard of fans in the process, largely thanks to his all-American good looks and quick wit. In conversation with A-Frame, Powell treated his fans to an insight into his private life, offering five of his all-time favourite movies to the table.
Much like many Hollywood actors and cinephiles, two of Powell’s slots are taken up with slices of movie magic from the great Steven Spielberg, opting for 1993’s Jurassic Park and 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While he blames the former for sparking his love of cinema, he states that the latter “brought my imagination to life” with its intricate myth-making and globe-hopping adventure.
In fact, Powell is clearly a lover of the classics, with all five of his choices being plucked from cinema history’s highest points. Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca is his next favourite, stating in regards to the classic war drama, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, “It’s such an interesting thing, because Humphrey Bogart’s character is so flawed, right? He is so flawed. And Casablanca is one of those movies that, on a whole, it shouldn’t really work. But it does! I’m such a fan of that movie”.
One decade after Casablanca hit cinemas, Hollywood would be redefined by the arrival of Singin’ in the Rain by directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with the Technicolor musical setting a new standard for the genre. “Singin’ in the Rain is a near-perfect movie, for me,” Powell says of the film, “It captures such an interesting era of movies, and I’m obsessed with Hollywood. I love Hollywood”.
The final flick to grace his list is George Roy Hill’s seminal western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, featuring the elite screen pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. A crime film with sprinklings of levity, Powell describes the classic as “a very revolutionary movie for its time. In terms of the romantic element, it follows none of the rules, and the way they shot it, and the music they use”.
Glen Powell’s five favourite movies:
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969)
- Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989)
- Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
- Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, 1952)
