Glen Powell avoids politics, blames Paramount marketing layoffs for Running Man flop

Left · 2Actor Glen Powell told Esquire, in a cover story, that he stays out of political conversations because he does not like the discourse. 1 2 Left · 2Powell said he grew up in a house where current affairs were not discussed at the dinner table, adding "Thank God". 2 1 Left · 2He called engaging in politics "not presently possible", said he applauds people who fight for their beliefs, and said that if he were a political person he would talk about it, but his "calling is elsewhere". 1 2

Left · 1Variety placed his remarks alongside those of Dwayne Johnson, who told Esquire he would stop speaking publicly about politics, and Jennifer Lawrence, who told The New York Times she doubted celebrities change how people vote. 1 Left · 1Powell also discussed his recent box office disappointments. Variety reports that The Running Man, released in fall 2025 and directed by Edgar Wright, took under $70 million worldwide on a production budget of about $110 million. 1 Left · 1Powell said Paramount "let go of an entire marketing department a month before our movie came out in the middle of a merger". Variety links this to mass Paramount layoffs in late October 2025. 1

Left · 1Variety adds that his next film, the A24-backed How to Make a Killing, made $21 million worldwide. Powell said it lacked enough time to be made properly and that he now thinks "there's no rush". 1 Left · 1The Independent, which describes the 37-year-old as one of Hollywood's go-to leading men, recalls that he defended his Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney over the backlash to her American Eagle jeans advert. It quotes his earlier Guardian interview, in which he said "people are aware that it's bulls***" and that there is "no accountability any more". 2 Left · 1In that earlier interview he said getting caught up in controversy is "feeding the beast" and that "the smart people in Hollywood don't try to fight anything that has nothing to do with them". 2