Ever since Top Gun: Maverick’s record-shattering success, it feels like “Hangman” actor Glen Powell is just everywhere. Whether he’s gracing the cover of magazines with his magical chest hair, flirting with Sydney Sweeney to lean into rumors about a Hollywood romance, or taking the advice of high-profile mentors like Matthew McConaughey and Denzel Washington, it feels like pop-culture is abuzz with PowellMania. The clear next step is to host Saturday Night Live, right? … Right? … Lorne? … Anybody?
I interviewed Glen Powell about his new film Hit Man, and when I asked why the heck he hasn’t hosted, Hollywood's newest A-lister told me this:
If you’ve got Lorne's number, man, you call him. You call him, you let him know.
Well there ya go! Glen Powell seems down for joining as an upcoming SNL host, but it looks like he hasn’t yet been invited. While I’m flattered that he thinks I might have Lorne Michaels’ digits in my 2017 iPhone X, I think he’s the one that should have the longtime Saturday Night Live producer in his contact list.
Powell actually popped into 30 Rock when his Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney hosted back in March appearing in both the monologue and a pretty darn satisfactory sketch:
Asking after Glen Powell’s interest in live television wasn’t just a maniacal way of getting your viewership, dear reader. Not only is Powell a co-writer of Hit Man alongside iconic filmmaker Richard Linklater, but the film sees him in rare form, taking on a variety of personas while his character Gary Johnson is undercover. Any movie star pulling Top Gun numbers who’s also capable of pulling off this many voices deserves a shot at SNL. There, I said it. You can get a dose of what I’m talking about in the Hit Man trailer:
As if that range isn’t impressive enough, it seems that Powell was coming up with all of these personas on the fly. He went on to say this:
It's not like I had any of these characters in my arsenal until like a couple weeks before shooting. This was all sort of how Gary did it, which is on the fly.
Well dang, Glen! That’s about as close to improvisation as you can get in a feature film like Hit Man. SNL Season 49 ended on May 18th with host Jake Gyllenhaal, but I’m definitely holding out hope for Glen Powell’s chances in Season 50. I don’t think he’ll need Lorne’s phone number, though. They’ll come to you, Glen.
Not that it matters much, as Powell has been keeping himself busy! He just produced The Blue Angels, a documentary about the legendary flight demonstration squad. And of course, following the success of Anyone But You, he’s returning to the Netflix schedule with Hit Man on June 7. Keep up with CinemaBlend for the latest in PowellMania.
