Help, My Girlfriend Is Obsessed With Glen Powell

THEY SAY THERE ain’t no love in Oklahoma, but your girl may think differently. Since the first image of Glen Powell’s mega-star Twisters moment—you know, when he’s strutting through the rain in a white T-shirt like some sort of modern western Mr. Darcy—hit the interwebs, women have made it known that a new Hollywood heartthrob is on the scene. Yes, in the long-standing tradition of fellas like Ryan Gosling and Michael B. Jordan, Glen Powell isn’t content enough to be our new big movie star, but the veritable new belt holder for the title of “Mr. Steal Your Girl.”

That’s certainly been the case for my partner, who traces her admiration of the star back to the 2018 Netflix twofer of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Set It Up. Of the latter, she (jokingly?) tells me: “I liked when he wore those really, really short shorts.”

She continues, “He’s eye candy, sure, but he also has great comedic timing. He banters; he’s not afraid to be a little silly. It’s endearing! It was a no-brainer that he would become a rom-com heartthrob, but it’s clear he also has range.” In other words: Yes, he’s hot. But he’s a real talent too!

She’ll see anything he’s in—the mark of a bonafide movie star, which are few and far between these days. It may help that, as a fellow alum of The University of Texas at Austin, she also considers Powell something of a hometown hero. Lucky for me, they didn’t cross paths on campus, but that shared connection has nonetheless resulted in a sort of personal investment in his career.

Finding some kind of connection—or simply embracing a totally baseless crush—and building that subsequent investment is what a lot of people latch onto about Powell and his characters, especially Tyler Owens in Twisters. There’s a swagger and bravado to Tyler, a self-described “tornado wrangler,” that eventually gives way to sweetness and affection. That’s really the Glen Powell experience in a nutshell; he’s a charming fellow who will effortlessly shotgun a beer on stage with Luke Combs in a “dudes rock” manner, but then also make intense eye contact with his female co-star for a photoshoot. He’s the most shredded everyman to come out of Hollywood in quite a while. Take his natural talent with that otherworldly amount of charisma, and it’s more than understandable why audiences are all falling for him accordingly. (Also, who doesn’t love a man with a dog named Brisket?)

Fellas, if you’re concerned about the women in your life falling into the Powell zone—as many are—well, welcome to what it’s like to finally have a bonafide star in the public eye. Ask your mom, and she’ll probably tell you she was obsessed with Kevin Costner, a guy whose persona overlaps with Powell’s quite a bit, at some point. Not only is this level of admiration totally okay, but it’s healthy for the film industry at large! Half of what makes a star a star is the desire to watch them do anything, whether it’s fly a jet plane or pretend to be a hitman. In fact, if you care about the film industry, you should encourage your partners to have a little bit of a crush because that means they’ll be more inclined to see whatever he does next. Also, let’s not pretend you didn’t enjoy watching Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You as much as she enjoyed watching Powell.

So, yeah, if you and your partner haven’t seen Twisters yet, you absolutely should. It’s super entertaining and confirms a new star. But you should also know a little bit about what you’re getting into—mostly so you can lean into it after the fact. After all, a crisp white sh