‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Glen Powell Wants You to Know He Takes His Bedroom Game Very, Very Seriously
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The first time I hopped on the phone to talk to Glen Powell about his starring role in Top Gun: Maverick, it was March 4, 2020. And if that date feels familiar to you or rings any sort of alarm bells, it's because it was roughly a week before the entire United States shut down due to COVID-19. We were there to talk about the movie, sure, but I was also on a very important mission (yes, that's a Top Gun reference) to ask Glen some cheekier questions, like what his bedroom looks like and how large his bed is. You know, the important things.
Obviously, things got a bit dicey in the weeks after our original call. Top Gun: Maverick got delayed a few times (okay, like, five times), and our interview never saw the light of day. But two-ish years later, that movie is finally hitting theaters. So I called Glen to see if any of his answers to these very important questions had changed at all since our blissfully naive first date chat.
Cosmopolitan: First, where are you taking this call? Set the scene for me.
Glen in 2020: I have a theater in my house that's sort of my home office. It's a nice place where I can gather. I filled it with big cloud couches and Lovesacs, and I can pack a lot of people in there.
Glen in 2022: I used the heck out of that theater during the pandemic. I pretty much lived in that cave for a couple years. I really will say, as much as I do love that home theater, I am so excited to get back to the movie theater among the masses and have that collective experience with other people.
Okay, tell me about this theater. How big is the screen? How does it feel on a night in with friends?
2020: I learned this weird trick in Ibiza. I got smoke machines and laser lights and you can basically turn a theater into a club in no time at all. I usually host dinners and drinks at the house, and then we could watch a movie, we could play games, we do whatever. And every once in a while, it gets rowdy. I know I'm a grown man, but sometimes men have clubs in their houses.
2022: I have never stood by a statement more in my whole life. For my birthday, I had a space cowboy party in our ranch in Texas. And so everybody got dressed up in spacesuits and cowboy hats and I turned the barn into literal space. I'm a grown-up in a lot of ways, but there's a lot of ways in which I never want to grow up, and I feel like my friends appreciate that.
What is your favorite object in your home, sentimental value-wise?
2020: On my birthday a couple of years ago, it was probably a month into shooting Top Gun, Tom Cruise gave me a vintage Top Gun poster and wrote a really nice note saying, 'Welcome to the Danger Zone, it's yours now. All my best, Tom Cruise.' So that's pretty cool statement piece to have. It was one of my favorite movies growing up and one of the reasons I decided to become an actor.
2022: The further I get away from that shooting experience, the more Tom becomes less of a coworker and more of a friend. Over the pandemic, I got my pilot's license. I'm flying around, I'm sending him pictures and I'm going sailing and riding motorcycles and doing all that stuff. That poster at the time really felt like, 'Wow, it's Tom fricken' Cruise.' Obviously I still think he's the coolest guy on the planet, but he really has become even more of a friend.
Tell me about the decor situation in your house. Are we talking blank walls? Have you hung up pictures? What are we dealing with here?
2020: My favorite piece is something I made, a piece of sheet metal. There's this famous battle in Texas history called the Battle of Gonzales. The Texans raised this flag with a picture of a cannon on it that said, 'come and take it,' So I was going to make this art piece that said 'come and take it' and I was gonna put it above my bed, until a few of my sisters and a few smart women in my life told me to never put an art piece that says 'come and take it' above my bed.
2022: I have the benefit of having a lot of wonderful ladies in my life who keep me honest and keep me from making disastrous mistakes like that. I still stand by that, 'come and take it' is something that it is a very cool piece of art, but it does not belong in the bedroom.
Okay, so tell me about the rest of your bedroom. What's the situation in there? How big is the bed?
2020: It's a California King. I take the bedroom situation seriously. I've got six throw pillows on the bed. Is that a normal number? Is that a solid performance? I also like to hug pillows. I tend to roll and hug, they're not just there for decoration. They're there for love. I feel like I nailed the bed situation.
2022: I changed up the sheets. I raised the sheet game even more, you know? I'm a dog guy, I grew up around a lot of dogs on the ranch and I had some pillows that had dogs on them and I was reminded that I need to, you know, I need to up my game. That's not a grown man's choice. I still have dogs, but the dog pillows are gone.
Okay, so let's pretend it's a Friday night and you're getting ready to spend the night in with a significant other. What's the setup?
2020: The beautiful part about being in California is that the weather is great. So if someone comes over I like being outside with a glass of tequila. I've got a fire pit out there. I am a wine guy if the girl has had a tough week. But tequila is my go-to.
2022: I took a trip to France and Portugal over the pandemic and fell in love with Portuguese and French wine, so I brought a ton back. The fire and wine game, I've really raised the bar over the pandemic on how I do that. In college, you slapped the Franzia bag. A little Tour de Franzia. But you've gotta grow up. You got to get rid of the dog pillows, and get a proper bottle of wine.
What's your skincare routine like? Show me what we're working with.
2020: Well, no one is following me on Instagram for my skincare routine and it really irks me every day. I'm trying to get better about this stuff, but right now I just throw water on my face. This is this is the one department that I obviously understand that I'm trainable in and I need to get better.
2022: I'm figuring it out! I wash my face now, I'm exfoliating every once awhile, maybe once a month. There's this thing call Dr. Gross Two-Stepper that I just got introduced to. [Editor's note: Glen is referring to Dr. Dennis Gross's Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel.] These things are a sleeve and you just open a package, you wipe your face down, and you do this other one. You don't need to carry anything except a little tiny sleeve. It makes it really easy.
Okay, last but certainly not least, what are you wearing while taking this call?
2020: I've got on a favorite pair of sweats, they're Ksubi sweats, and a tank top. That's my go-to.
2022: I'm shirtless, wearing sweats, sitting outside by the fire pit. That's me.
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