Glen Powell opened up about why he decided to leave Hollywood and return to his home state of Texas.
After living in Los Angeles for more than 15 years, the 35-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter that he recently moved to Austin, where he will be able to be closer to his family and finish his degree at the University of Texas.
While speaking with the outlet, Powell said he was inspired to permanently return to the Lone Star State on the advice of fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey.
“He's like, 'Hollywood is the Matrix, man. You plug in and it's all a fake world,'” the “Top Gun: Maverick” star recalled McConaughey telling him.
Glen Powell explained how Matthew McConaughey inspired him to leave Hollywood for Texas. (Getty)
Powell continued: “He says, 'Then I go to Austin and log off. It's all real. Those are my friends, that's my family, my actions matter there.' And he's right.”
GLEN POWELL'S PARENTS CREATED THE SCREENING OF THE FILM IN TEXAS TO TROLL HIM
“If you're here, you live in the Matrix all the time, there's no separation of those worlds,” he said of Hollywood.
“And for me, especially as my parents get older and my niece and nephew get older, I want a separation from those worlds.”
McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, Texas, left Malibu for Austin with his wife Camila Alves and their three children in 2014.
McConaughey, his wife Camila Alves, and their children moved to Austin in 2014. (Gary Miller/Getty Images)
Originally from Austin, Powell moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of an acting career. After making his film debut in 2003's “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over,” Powell was a senior in high school when he landed a role in Denzel Washington's 2007 film “The Great Debaters.”
After being impressed by Powell's talent, Washington introduced the actor to his agent Ed Limato. Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that he was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when Limato called him and asked if he would attend the premiere of “The Great Debaters” in Los Angeles.
Powell recalled that he met with Washington and Limato, who took him on as a client, and decided to move to Hollywood after his freshman year of college.
However, Powell said he struggled for years before he started landing acting jobs regularly. She landed her first starring role in the 2018 Netflix romantic comedy “Set It Up” alongside Zoey Deutch. After “Set It Up” became a sleeper hit, Powell said studios began to pay attention to it.
Powell was invited to audition for the role of Rooster, the son of LTJG Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, in “Top Gun: Maverick”, but Miles Teller was chosen for the role. Powell recalled that losing the role was a “big blow” for him, as he really wanted to play Goose.
Powell recently returned to his hometown of Austin. (Nicola Gell/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
However, “Top Gun: Maverick” star and executive producer Tom Cruise urged Powell to take on the role of Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin. Powell said Cruise became a mentor to him while they worked together on the hit sequel.
Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Top Gun: Maverick” was not released until two years after production wrapped. During that time, Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that he almost went bankrupt.
“I had never made a significant amount of money from a movie, not even, and it was draining my bank account to the point where my accountant was saying, 'This pandemic can't last much longer,'” Powell said. “But Tom was already Tom; he was waiting for my life to change.”
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Released in May 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick” became a huge box office hit. Powell reached a new height in her career with the surprise success of her next project, the 2023 Netflix romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” in which she starred alongside Sydney Sweeney.
However, Powell admitted that he was uncomfortable with some aspects of his newfound fame and began to have a “fishbowl feeling” in his life in Los Angeles.
Powell reached a new level of fame after starring alongside Sydney Sweeney in Netflix's “Anyone But You.” (Mark Von Holden/NBC via Getty Images)
“What makes me feel conflicted about some parts of this moment is that I like to choose when I'm out front. And I'm more than happy to be on a press tour. I love it. I love moving forward. “A Jimmy Fallon: “You go out, you sign autographs, you do everything,” he said.
But Powell said he was uncomfortable with “this idea that you're a feature” in Hollywood.
“Someone will say, 'Hey, buddy, do you want to come to this guy's house? Yeah, come.' And then you show up and suddenly you're there for someone's tequila launch and suddenly there's a photographer and you're like, 'Wait 'What are we doing here?'” he said.
“And I think you have enough of them and you just want to get as close to your family as possible, or run to them,” Powell added.
Powell's parents, Glen Sr. and Cyndy Powell, also share daughters, Lauren and Leslie, who grew up in Austin with the actor. Glen, Cyndy and Lauren, mother of twins Witt and Gwen, still live in Austin, while Leslie is pursuing a singing career in Los Angeles. Powell has previously shared that his family often visits him on set, and Glen Sr. and Cyndy have had cameos in almost all of his films.
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Glen Sr. and Cyndy recently trolled their son with humorous cardboard signs on the red carpet at the Austin premiere of “Hit Man,” the action comedy that Powell starred in and produced. Powell was also inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame during last week's event.
After achieving career success, Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that she feels the true reward of “getting to this point in Hollywood is that now I can leave Hollywood.”
“It's like I've earned the chance to return to my family,” he added.
Last week, Powell's parents trolled him at the premiere of his new movie “Hit Man.” (ERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Powell said that their new home in Austin is half an hour from Glen Sr. and Cyndy's house.
“I think this will be good for my head, my heart and my soul,” the actor said of the move.
Although Powell hoped his graduation from UT would coincide with the release of “Hit Man” and his induction into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, he said his plans were delayed due to his busy schedule. Powell said he must complete two courses before he can earn his degree, which he aims to accomplish next year.
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When asked why he is still determined to graduate from college after the success he has achieved, Powell said, “I think it's very important to my mom and it's more of an emotional thing for me.”
“Plus, I'm so close I can taste it,” he added.
