Chris Pratt in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Changed Hollywood Image of Leading Men
Glen Powell credits Chris Pratt for indirectly helping him become a bonafide movie star.
That’s because Powell views Pratt’s breakout role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy as a turning point when Hollywood became more open to leading men who were “a little more silly and buoyant.”
“Guardians of the Galaxy” opened in 2014, the same year Powell had a small supporting role in the action movie “The Expendables 3.” Powell had been trying and failing for years at that point to hit big in Hollywood.
He told GQ magazine in a new cover story that the industry’s preference for “brooding or dark” types like Christian Bale and “Twilight”-era Robert Pattinson left him on the outs when it came to casting big roles. But Pratt changed things.
Powell is now one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men
He’s notched box office hits with “Anyone but You” and “Twisters,” and he’s now headlining his first action movie star vehicle with Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, in theaters Nov. 14 from Paramount.
When it came to getting in action star mode, Powell was able to call up his mentor and Top Gun: Maverick co-star Tom Cruise for guidance.
Cruise told Powell to approach the gig as a physical job.
“You put ashwagandha and reishi and Cordyceps and all these things in your coffee,” Powell said. “So I blended it, mixed it up, put it in this kind of a mason jar and brought it to set. I’m flying that day so I’m drinking this thing. But it’s all these ground-up mushrooms—it kind of looks like just this hearty, just disgusting…. [Tom] kind of looks at me for a second, he’s like: ‘You look like you’re drinking a stool sample. What is that?’ I was like, ‘Okay, this one, I took this too far.’”
GQ magazine’s website Powell’s cover story.
