2003–2017: Early work and breakthrough Powell's acting career began while working with
Antonio Banderas and
Sylvester Stallone in
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. In 2007, before his first year of college, Powell landed a role in
The Great Debaters, directed by and starring
Denzel Washington. Washington introduced him to agent
Ed Limato, who encouraged Powell to move to Los Angeles. After moving to the city, Powell stayed with a friend of the family and he later described struggling during this period to get roles, including failed auditions for
Friday Night Lights, Cowboys & Aliens, and
The Longest Ride. However, he saw some success with small credits in television series, including
Into the West,
Jack & Bobby,
CSI: Miami,
NCIS,
Without a Trace,
Rizzoli & Isles and
The Lying Game. He also had minor parts in
The Dark Knight Rises and
Stuck in Love. Powell stated that he auditioned multiple times for the role in
The Dark Knight Rises and that
Christopher Nolan taking a chance on him was a validation as "nothing was going on" in his life at the time. Powell began receiving larger roles in feature films around 2014. He played a hacker in
The Expendables 3, an action movie that starred several well-known stars and that reunited Powell with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas. Powell later recounted asking Stallone for advice while filming on how to succeed in Hollywood. Powell next took minor roles in the comedies
Sex Ed and
Ride Along 2. During this period, he also had a main role in the first season of the television show
Scream Queens and a recurring role in the second season. In March 2016, he co-starred as Finnegan in
Everybody Wants Some!!,
Richard Linklater's spiritual sequel to
Dazed & Confused, which was filmed in Austin, Texas and released by Paramount. The film was noted for being one of the first movies to really showcase Powell, with Linklater stating: "I needed someone with some charisma who was going to be smart, who was also believable as a college athlete... (He appeared) like this Beat character—he was even reading
The Subterraneans, I think." Later that year, Powell played astronaut
John Glenn in the biographical drama
Hidden Figures. In 2017, he had a minor role as Sergeant Dylan Chutsky in the Netflix film
Sand Castle. He then starred in
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018).
2018–present: Top Gun: Maverick and expansion In 2018, Powell starred opposite
Zoey Deutch in the romantic comedy
Set It Up. The movie was released on
Netflix. Powell reflected in an interview with
The Hollywood Reporter that he started getting more calls from contacts in the film industry after the movie's release, Later that year, Powell joined the cast of
Top Gun: Maverick. He had initially auditioned for the role of Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, but the part went to
Miles Teller. Powell's audition impressed producers, who offered him the role of Jake "Hangman" Seresin instead but Powell was reluctant to take the role because he viewed the character as underdeveloped. A call from
Tom Cruise, the star of the film, convinced Powell to accept the part, with Cruise offering him greater control over the character. The film was delayed multiple times due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, but it turned into a "breakout role" for Powell upon its release in May 2022. He then played naval officer
Tom Hudner in the biographical war film,
Devotion. The film, which Powell executive produced, received positive reviews when released in November 2022, but it was a
box-office bomb. In 2023, he co-starred opposite
Sydney Sweeney in the romantic comedy
Anyone but You, which emerged as a
sleeper hit, grossing $220 million worldwide. Around its release in December 2023, the film generated buzz because of speculation about a potential off-screen romance between Powell and Sweeney, although the two stars later admitted that the appearance of a real-life relationship was part of a marketing strategy. Powell remarked to
The New York Times: "That's people wanting what's on the screen off the screen and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit". He later indicated that the press tour was designed as "its own sense of entertainment". In the immediate aftermath, Powell was offered and signed on for a slew of star-vehicles including
Chad Powers, The Running Man, How To Make A Killing, The Great Beyond, and
The Comeback King; while also turning down projects like
Jurassic World: Rebirth with Powell reasoning: "I'm not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn't help it ... It's about choosing where you're going to make an audience happy and where you're going to make yourself happy." In 2024, Powell produced and co-wrote the script of the romantic black comedy
Hit Man with director
Richard Linklater. Several critics praised Powell's performance in it as an undercover police contractor posing as a hitman. Alissa Wilkinson of
The New York Times called it a "genuine star-clinching turn" for Powell, while Sophie Butcher of
Empire wrote that he "announces himself as a movie star and a filmmaking force to be reckoned with". After premiering at the
2023 Venice International Film Festival,
Hit Man was released on Netflix in June 2024. His performance in
Hit Man earned him a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. In the following month, he starred in the disaster film
Twisters, a standalone sequel to the 1996 film
Twister, playing a YouTube
storm chaser.
IndieWire's
David Ehrlich commended him for "churning pure charisma" in his part. The film was a critical and box office success. In 2025, Powell starred as Russ Holiday in the comedy series
Chad Powers, which he helped to create and produce. The show follows Holiday's attempt to stage a comeback in football by disguising himself with a fake identity. Stuart Heritage of
The Guardian called Powell's role one of the "most magnetic and magical performances in memory", while Daniel Fienberg of
The Hollywood Reporter didn't care for the show but thought positively of Powell: "A major piece of this hypothetical renegade ethos is seeing how far Glen Powell's abundant natural charm can be pushed in having him play two characters who are completely unlikable in different ways? Both Russ and Chad are inconsistently written, but Powell is fully committed to all of their inconsistencies. The thing he's most consistent with is his general athleticism." The first season was successful, and was renewed for a second season. He then starred as the titular character in
the remake of
Stephen King's thriller novel
The Running Man, directed by
Edgar Wright and released in November 2025. The film received mixed reviews and bombed at the box office. In 2026, Powell starred in the black comedy thriller
How to Make a Killing. On Powell's performance,
Owen Gleiberman of
Variety, wrote: "He carries the audience with his energized sense of play. He's sleek enough to cruise through a movie like…well, Tom Cruise, and part of it is that he shares Cruise's projection of quick-fire intelligence. Powell, as Becket, is always thinking, deciding, calculating, and the actor lets that all show through." Powell also voiced
Fox McCloud in
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Glenn Garner of
Deadline Hollywood wrote that Powell "shined" in the film adding that Powell, "provides a fun addition to the onscreen franchise as the voice of Fox McCloud, a furry animated manifestation of his own rising action star."
Upcoming He will next star in
J. J. Abrams' fantasy film
The Great Beyond opposite
Jenna Ortega and
Emma Mackey. In 2027, he will co-star opposite
Cristin Milioti in a romantic-comedy film
The Comeback King directed by
Judd Apatow about a country-western star in free-fall. Powell co-wrote and produces the film via his production company Barnstorm. == Barnstorm ==