Glen Powell Recalls His 'Darkest Moments' in Hollywood Before Becoming a Household Name: 'You Have to Lie to Yourself'

“As a struggling actor, there’s no harder place to live than being in Hollywood with nothing going on,” the 'Twisters' star said

The road to stardom wasn’t always easy for Glen Powell.

While speaking to Vanity Fair for the 2025 Hollywood Issue, the Twisters star, 36, opened up about the early days of his career.

“As a struggling actor, there’s no harder place to live than being in Hollywood with nothing going on,” he said. “The currency of that town is how relevant you are and what your last job is. It makes you oppressively self-aware.”

The Anything But You actor then revealed that sometimes the only way to get through those uncertain times was to “lie to yourself.”

“Even at the darkest moments in that town, when I really didn’t have anything happening, you sort of have to lie to yourself, at least a little bit, and act like this is that chapter of the story where things just aren’t going right,” he explained. “You have to believe in the Hollywood legends of those people that you admire, the people that you’re chasing, that had those long stretches of famine as well.”

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Powell also noted that many people outside the industry don’t realize just how tough it can be to even get an audition, let alone land a part.

"People are like, 'Oh man, auditioning must be tough.' And I’m like, 'No, auditioning is a luxury.' "

“Finding an agent, finding anybody to talk to you at a damn party, having enough money to pay for headshots, these are the things that no one talks about,” he continued.

He added, “Auditioning feels like you’re at the party. You’ve gotten past the velvet rope. You may not be able to afford a drink at the party, but you’re in it, you can taste it. But so often in Hollywood, most of the time you are outside that velvet rope. Most of the time the bouncer is not even allowing you anywhere in the vicinity.”

Now that the Hit Man star is one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading men, he admits that he has a whole new set of variables to consider — specifically how to feel creatively fulfilled while also keeping the audience entertained.

“I try to think, ‘Audience first,’ rather than, ‘Me first.’ “he said, adding, “What does the audience want to see? How can I fit into a role that really challenges what I do, where I’m not settling into any sort of groove that feels too familiar or too monotonous? Do you know what I mean?”

“There’s always been this phrase, ‘One for me, one for them,’ " he continued. "And I just completely disagree with that idea. I think it can be all for them, and it can be all for you, and you just have to be really deliberate about what you’re a part of.”

During the interview, Powell also explained that his “audience first” mentality extends to press tours, acknowledging that he and his Anything But You costar, Sydney Sweeny, 27, were aware that bringing a flirty chemistry to red carpets and interviews would only help the success of their movie overall, despite both being involved with other people.

“I think what people forget about with a press tour is that it’s its own sense of entertainment. I don’t think it’s duplicitous,” he said.

Related: Glen Powell Admits He and Sydney Sweeney Leaned Into Romance Rumors to Market Anyone But You: 'It Worked'

“For Twisters, I had the best time because I’m getting to literally live in a world of trucks, and tornadoes, and the South, and country music, and all these different things where I was like, 'This is authentically all me,’ " he continued. “Shotgunning a beer onstage with Luke Combs is press, but that’s also something that I had the greatest time doing.”

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In May, the Top Gun: Maverick actor revealed that he had made the decision to leave his home of 15 years in L.A. and return to his roots in Austin, Texas after a conversation with actor Matthew McConaughey.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Powell recalled McConaughey telling him, ‘Hollywood is the Matrix, man. You plug in and it’s all fake world,’ He’s like, ‘Then I go to Austin, and I unplug. It’s all real. Those are my friends, that’s my family, my actions matter there.’ “

“And he’s right," Powell said, "If you’re here [in Hollywood], you live in the Matrix all the time, there’s no separation of those worlds. And for me, especially as my parents get older and my niece and nephew are growing up, I want a separation of those worlds.”