Hit Man scared Glen Powell in a way no other project has.
Glen Powell has been in the film industry for quite some while now, but his role in Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick brought him global recognition and success. An incredible actor, he has since starred in the sleeper hit Anyone but You, and Hit Man, both of which brought him acclaim and fame.
Yet when asked about his most ambitious project, it isn’t Cruise’s Maverick but rather Hit Man that scared Powell the most.
Starring in Hit Man Scared Glen Powell The Most
Hit Man was co-written by Glen Powell and Richard Linklater, with the latter also directing the film. A movie based on real events, it features Powell as a New Orleans police contractor who goes undercover as a hitman. The more he goes into his job, the more he becomes entangled with a woman who wants to hire him to kill her husband.
A critical hit, Hit Man currently has a brilliant 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and has just made its way to the streaming platform Netflix. So, while fans seem to be enjoying the romantic black comedy film, its lead star described the film as his biggest gamble.
In his interview with InStyle, Glen Powell stated,
This is one where there was a lot of that imposter syndrome that I think comes right before you start. Where you convince a great filmmaker—one of the best—to write a movie with you. You raise the money, you get an incredible actress, you con everybody on the way to joining this ride, and then you’re like, I don’t know if I can do this. You know what I mean? I think this was maybe the most nervous I’ve ever been going into a project.
Despite having starred in Top Gun 2 along with an actor like Tom Cruise, Powell has deep insecurity about starring in an independent movie like Hit Man. Seeing how he has just started to climb the ladder of success, it is understandable that the actor would have some anxiety with the project. After all, he also served as the co-writer for this film.
Glen Powell Thinks Insecurity as an Actor is a Good Thing
Glen Powell, with a hit like Hit Man, proved to everyone that not only is he a great actor, but he also is a great screenwriter. Next to be seen in the upcoming Twisters, Powell believes having insecurity as an actor is a good thing. While others like Cruise would disagree, Powell has his own reasons for believing that a little bit of anxiety is necessary.
If you have an ego enough where you go into a project being like, I’m hot sh*t, you’re probably going to f** it up.
There’s an interesting thing about it, because you come from a place where you really want to be good for people. You don’t want to let people down. It’s a good thing because it means you’re going to do everything you possibly can. If you feel too safe going into something, I think it’s a bad thing. If you feel too deserving of something, I think it’s bad.
Actors often feel nervous before starting a project, and being unconfident does not mean they cannot do a good job, but according to Powell, it is because they care about the project. Not only is it remarkable but admirable that the actor, despite being insecure, has been putting in effort to make movies like Hit Man, making him set to potentially become one of the best Hollywood stars of all time.
Hit Man can be streamed on Netflix.
