The day Glen Powell savaged his mother’s acting prowess: “I wouldn’t say her ability is natural”
When Glen Powell first burst onto the scene with his granite jaw, suave demeanour, and silver tongue, people heralded him as an icon of a classic style movie star, a throwback to an age of cinema that many thought was long since dead.
He’s since proved himself to be incredibly versatile on screen, starring in a range of comedies and action flicks, and seems to be a very genuine, hard-working person away from it. He’s put in a lot of effort to get to where he is today, even if some have questioned his meteoric ascent.
One of the most interesting facets of Powell’s personality is his relationship with his parents, executive coach Glen Sr and homemaker Cyndy Powell, and the non-actors have made a few appearances in his films. The so-called ‘nepo parents’ have brief cameos in Twisters (in the background of a rodeo scene), Anyone but You (as airline passengers Sydney Sweeney climbs over), and Top Gun: Maverick (in the bar scene in which Miles Teller plays ‘Great Balls of Fire’ on the piano).
Powell’s parents also appear in the 2022 film Devotion, in which their son plays real-life naval officer Tom Hudner, who served in the Korean War and forms an unlikely friendship with African-American aviator Jesse L Brown (Jonathan Majors), which sees them combat both the enemy and the racism that pervades the US armed forces.
Glen Sr and Cyndy make a brief cameo playing a couple walking along a beach, while in the foreground, Brown runs into the legendary Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor (played by Serinda Swan). It’s a pivotal moment in the story, as Brown’s ability to charm Taylor and secure entry to an elusive casino wins him favour with his squadron. Unfortunately for Powell, he felt like one of his family members might have let the side down somewhat.
“My mom, she’s a coachable actor,” he explained to Slash Film, “I wouldn’t say her ability is natural, but I would say that she does deliver a very powerful performance in this movie in the background as a beachgoer looking for her towel.” Poor Cyndy, getting called out for being rubbish by her own son.
Cameos can really make or break a scene; if you get it right, it can be the icing on the cake of an absolute classic. If you get it wrong, then you end up with the guy from Jaws who says, “A whaaaa?”, like he’s never spoken a word of English before. Being in the background is just as difficult as being in the foreground and can be just as embarrassing when it goes wrong.
Mr and Mrs Powell have always had a big impact on their son’s career, and it’s nice that he feels like he wants to give back to them with these amazing opportunities, but there is always a danger when you introduce non-actors into an acting scenario.
His parents haven’t completely ruined things yet, but he might have to be a bit more careful with them going forward. If they want to keep up their track record of cameos, maybe his old dear will need to pick up a few acting lessons along the way, lest she be savaged again.
