Glen Powell Is Getting Schooled

I’ve been a tiny bit harsh to Glen Powell. He’s this year’s male movie star and with that classic, corn-fed American face, it was only a matter of time. Anytime a celebrity becomes as ubiquitous as he has, I grow skeptical. But Powell has been honest about his aspirations for acting and his relationship with fame; he’s practically admitted he’s trying to sell out, and he’ll do the artsy, indie movies once he’s raked in some cash. I appreciate the honesty and don’t even blame him.

“Being a movie star was always Glen’s dream,” Ryan Murphy, who directed Powell in Scream Queens once said. “He could have done any TV series, but he made it clear that he was chasing something. And I’d get a little mad at him, like, ‘What do you mean you’re waiting? What are you doing?’ But he was smart, and he was right.”

But he knows balance is important, too. He bought a house 30 minutes away from his parents in Texas as soon as he was able.

“It’s like I’ve earned the ability to go back to my family. I think this is going to be good for my head, heart and soul,” he said.

And now he’s getting close to finally finishing that college degree that he left behind when the acting opportunities started knocking. He’s been taking classes remotely at the University of Texas when he can fit them in between his busy shooting schedules.

“I think it’s really important to my mom and it’s more of an emotional thing for me,” he said of finishing school. “Plus, I’m so close, I can taste it.”

“I’m not going to be sitting in a class with other students on the regular,” he admitted. “I’m basically going to be coming back because I have to finish up, but I’m going to be shooting The Running Man in the fall. So I’m going to be in London, but I am going to be going back for proctored exams. So, they’re letting me figure it out [with] distance learning.” The plan is for him to finish next year with a degree in Spanish and Early American History.

I love this journey. My job is to be skeptical of everything at first, but Powell continues to pass every test. Let’s hope the same is true of his finals.