Glen Powell Reveals The Origins Of His Dog's Unique Name, And Of Course There's A Tom Cruise Connection

Glen Powell in Hit Man/Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick
(Image credit: Netflix/Paramount Pictures)

Glen Powell is a proud dog dad to a terrier poodle mix. He and his new love interest in the form of a cute pupper are like two peas in a pod on film sets, movie premieres and shirtless thirst trap Instagram photos. With Powell’s dog being named Brisket, we just have to know the origins of this unique name. It turns out there’s, of course, a Tom Cruise connection there.

“The Summer of Glen Powell” has brought a lot of attention to the Texas native with his movies Anyone But You, Hitman and the new Twisters movie. After adopting his new dog during the filming of the standalone sequel, and to help him cope with his recent breakup, the attention is newly focused on the ever-adorable Brisket. With this photogenic dog cute enough to make it on the cover of Vogue, the question on the magazine’s mind and ours is how Brisket got that unique name of his. Here was Powell’s answer:

I call him Brisky, but a lot of people call him Brisky Business.

Of course Glen Powell thought about his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Tom Cruise. He did find the high-grossing actor to be inspiring on the set of their sequel film with his go-go-go attitude. Plus, he gave a meaningful piece of advice to Powell to help him get into the character of "Hangman." With Cruise’s character in Risky Business being so hardcore, it makes sense how the teen role of Joel Goodson came into play with naming his dog. To think that Brisket was almost going to be named Enid after the Oklahoma location where Twisters was filmed. Ultimately, the Hidden Figures actor felt like the name “Brisket” fit him better.

Brisket has become quite the popular dog ever since Glen Powell brought him into his life. Instagram photos showed the “set mascot” having the time of his life with the cast of Twisters. Not to mention, the little boy looked incredibly scrumptious wearing his bowtie during the premiere of the summer blockbuster movie. The Scream Queens actor continued to talk more about “Brisky”’s growing popularity with everyone who met him:

Brisket really is the funniest dog. I feel like he has so many parents. All my friends want to babysit him, and everybody is always sending me pictures hanging with him. They do have a lot of nicknames. I should start writing down all the nicknames that people have for him. But Brisky is what I called him from the beginning, and Brisky Business…I mean, he’s a party so it makes sense.

I can imagine Brisket being the life of the party anywhere you take him. I would have a hard time letting him go if I held him in my arms. The stars of Twisters got a real kick out of having the little pup around when he tag-teamed with them storm-chasing. With Brisket being as “cool as a cucumber,” as actor Brandon Perea described him, I still wish he had a cameo in the disaster flick. But the dog dad did tell Vogue if his terrier poodle were to star in a movie, he’d like Dune's Timothée Chalamet to voice him. That I’d like to see!

Now we know that Glen Powell nicknamed his dog “Brisky” all because of Tom Cruise’s Risky Business. Knowing this fun fact, I’d like to see the Set it Up actor and Brisket in an Instagram reel or commercial ad reenacting the iconic underwear scene so badly. If you haven’t already, the 2024 movie release of Twisters is still in theaters, with its 4DX return’s release date set on August 30th.

Carly Levy
Entertainment Writer

Just your average South Floridian cinephile who believes the pen is mightier than the sword.