Glen Powell said he “almost died” while filming a strip scene for his forthcoming rom-com Anyone But You.
The 35-year-old Top Gun: Maverick actor stars opposite Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney, 26, in director Will Gluck’s new movie about two people who can’t stand each other but must pretend to be the perfect couple while at a destination wedding in Sydney, Australia.
At one point in the film, Powell’s Ben is standing at the top of a cliff when Sweeney’s Bea pulls a large spider out from his shorts, prompting Ben to frantically rip off his clothes.
“Nobody talks about that safety issue on set, where I almost died falling off a cliff taking my pants off too fast,” Powell told Variety of shooting the comedic scene at the film’s recent New York premiere.
“You just have to grip it and rip it on a scene like that,” he explained.
“You know you’re not going to leave that filming day looking cool, so you just have to embrace it,” he said, adding: “But it’s a really fun scene, so it was all worth it.”
Speaking about casting, Gluck told Variety that once Powell was attached to the project, a few more shirtless scenes than initially intended were added in.
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney— (Getty Images)
“Once we saw how much he was committed – you know, he always wanted to take his shirt off,” the Easy A director said. “I was like, ‘Glen, there’s no need for you to take your shirt off in this scene, we’re having dinner.’ Shirt came off.”
Last week, Powell gushed over his on-screen chemistry with his co-star Sweeney. “A great rom-com doesn’t survive without great chemistry, and Sydney is the easiest person to have chemistry with,” he told Entertainment Tonight.
Calling her “awesome”, he added: “This movie has felt like a rom-com in itself because Sydney is very easy to pretend fall in love with.”
Earlier this year, photos and videos of the pair interacting during the film’s production and subsequent press run sent fans into a frenzy, speculating that they were romantically involved. At the time, Powell was believed to have been in a relationship with model Gigi Paris, who further flamed the rumours by unfollowing the two actors on social media in April.
Sweeney later addressed the reports in an interview with Variety, saying: “It’s a rom-com. That’s what people want!
“Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker,” she said.
In his December cover story for Men’s Health, Powell said that the affair rumours felt “disorienting and unfair”. “But what I’m realising is that’s just a part of this gig now,” he said.
Sweeney has been engaged to Chicago-based businessman Jonathan Davino since February 2022.
Anyone But You will be released in US cinemas on 22 December and in UK cinemas on 26 December.
