If you want to get actor Glen Powell to light up in an instant, ask him about his football team. Powell, who had a breakout role in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick and is starring alongside Sydney Sweeney in this month’s romcom Anyone But You, is a Texas native and a self-proclaimed diehard Longhorns fan.
And he’s pumped to watch No. 3 Texas take on No. 2 Washington in the second College Football Playoff semifinal game at the Sugar Bowl on Monday.
Powell’s grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and sister all went to the University of Texas, so the burnt orange is in his blood. Last season, Powell earned an invite on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay when the long-running show stopped in Austin. He donned a mullet wig in honor of quarterback Quinn Ewers and made Bijan Robinson mustard jokes. It was perfection.
This season, he’s maintained that enthusiasm and been in attendance for several Longhorn games despite having a wildly busy schedule. Being a Texas superfan means he’s also gotten a chance to meet that other Texas superfan, actor Matthew McConaughey.
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“To be along on this ride this season has been pretty awesome, and finally career-wise being at a place where I get to be invited on the sidelines as like McConaughey’s deputy,” Powell said with a laugh in a recent interview with For The Win. “McConaughey is always going to be the sheriff; I’ll be his deputy.”
@oliviawhitmire as a bama fan I’m just happy these two got to see their team win 🥲 #fyp #glenpowell #matthewmcconaughey #texasfootball #alabamafootball
The 35-year-old burgeoning star can’t help but think of young Glen when experiencing some of these moments.
“I was with McConaughey and Brian Orakpo and Vince Young, and we got a touchdown, and I’m high-fiving all these guys,” Powell recounted. “I was like, ‘If my younger self could see me now.’ I mean this is the pinnacle for me.”
Above all else, Powell is just impressed with the on-field performance of the three-seeded Longhorns. He credits head coach Steve Sarkisian for the culture shift and resulting success.
“What Coach Sark has done with this team is really, really incredible. I feel like the entire culture of the Longhorns and that program has shifted in a really dramatic way, and you can really feel the magic around it,” Powell said.
When it comes down to it, Powell mentioned the versatility of the team as the reason he’s so high on their postseason chances.
“I think what’s really exciting about Texas is there’s obviously guys like Xavier Worthy, who are studs, who always convert when they need to. But I think what’s really fun about Texas is there’s a lot of targets downfield… I think the depth of Texas is really amazing.”
It might be a little bit of bias, but Powell is definitely taking the Longhorns in the semifinals over the Huskies — a game he’s planning on attending — and thinks they have what it takes to win it all.
“It’s a very versatile team, so I would put them up against Washington,” he said. “I’d put them up against Michigan and Bama. I feel very good about our odds this year.”
Texas faces Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl on Monday at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN.
