Glen Powell stays mum on politics — “I do not like the discourse”
Glen Powell explains why you won’t hear his politics — and he’s got a pretty clear case for keeping them off the public stage.
In a new profile with Esquire, Glen Powell explains why he keeps politics off the press-tour table. He says he didn’t grow up with heated debates over dinner — “thank God,” as he put it — and has stuck to that boundary even as his star power has climbed.
“Over time, I realized that politics divide people,” he said. “People trying to prove their point — for me, it’s the worst version of a conversation. I genuinely do not like the discourse…. I applaud people for jumping into those things and fighting for what they believe in.”
Powell told the magazine he’d rather keep interviews focused on the work than on combative back-and-forths. It’s a line he’s drawn while jumping between blockbuster action and crowd-pleasing hits in recent years.
A brutal on-set injury
The Esquire piece also details a harrowing moment from Powell’s next movie, The Running Man , directed by Edgar Wright — and how far he pushed through to finish the job.
- During a fight scene, a retractable prop knife hit his hand hard enough to rupture a tendon.
- He kept filming at first because the movie had a release date and a J.J. Abrams project was already lined up.
- When the pain and swelling spiked, he went to a Bulgarian ER, where doctors found the tissue was completely severed and he’d developed a septic infection.
- Doctors warned he could wake up without his hand; he underwent surgery.
- Powell returned to set the next day.
According to the profile, production folded his bandaged arm into the story. He even shot a sequence in freezing weather, climbing an apartment building in just a bath towel, while still recovering.
The incident happened during filming on Wright’s new take on The Running Man, and Powell’s account underscores just how physically all-in he went — even with another major job waiting as soon as he wrapped.