By now you’ve seenSet It Up, right? Back in the day, rom-coms made stars out of actors. That stopped happening but… could it start happening again? Will it happen for Glen Powell? Glen’s been working steadily the last few years. And he’s worked in some high-profile features. The spotlight from those projects, however, didn’t land on him – and it wasn’t his to benefit from.Set It Up,however, was definitely a showcase for what he can bring. And around the timeSet It Upwas released on Netflix, it was reported that he was being considered for the Goose Jr role in theTop Gunsequel. The role, as we know,eventually went to Miles Tellerand, as Sarah wrote in her post, “we do not deserve Glen Powell”.

What does Glen Powell deserve though?

According toThe Hollywood ReporterGlen will actually be inTop Gun 2,or whatever it is that they’re going to call it.

In June, young Hollywood actors were champing at the bit to play the son of Goose, Maverick’s wingman who dies in a tragic accident in the original movie. The testing process, which involved flying to Cruise’s home in Clearwater, Florida, saw the finalists come down to Powell and Teller, with Teller ultimately winning.

But Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and execs at Paramount and Skydance were so impressed with Powell that they tried to find another part for the actor. In fact, the movie’s makers are so intent on having Powell that they are beefing up the role for him.

First of all, hat tip to Borys Kit, who wrote the THR article about this story, for the correct use of “champing”. “Chomping” is what we hear now most often so it’s become acceptable, but the expression was originally introduced as “champing”. (I’m done being a pedant now.)

And hat tip toGlen Powellfor showing his work, during the audition, obviously, but afterwards as well. Which, as I say often onour podcast,Show Your Work, has real life application. In fact, it’s happened to me. I used to work atCovenant House Vancouverand I first interviewed for a Development Officer position. The job went to someone else, someone who was more suited to it. But I gav’er, I left everything in that room, and I let them know how badly I wanted to work there. So in the end, even though I didn’t get the job I applied for, they put me in a position that they thought matched my skill-set, allowing me to gain the experience I needed to eventually move up to Development Officer, which happened the next year.

Glen Powell may not have been right for whatever they’re looking for in Goose Jr. But they know he’s too good to not be in their movie. So they’re making space for him, they’re creating space for him. And it certainly didn’t hurt that he took the news that he did not get the Goose Jr part. Remember his tweet?

Perfect reaction. Clever, smart, and gracious. It tells them that he’d have a good attitude on set. It tells them that he’s worth the investment. And now he goes in there in the best possible situation – to play a part that he, literally, made. A part built with his own DNA. Which is really, really, really hot, non?