Antagonistic characters often captivate audiences with their despicable traits. May that be the iconic character Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series or King Joffrey from Game of Thrones, despite being disliked by the viewers, they play pivotal roles when it comes to the advancement of the stories. And adding another character to the list is Glen Powell’s portrayal of Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick. However, before agreeing to play the iconic character on screen, Powell went through a whirlwind of insecurity when his co-actor Tom Cruise helped him out.
Embodying the role of an arrogant Navy pilot who enjoys teasing and mocking his fellow comrades, Powell’s character earned him the ire of his squadmates as well as the audience. And owing to this very fact, it’s clear how realistically Powell portrayed the character of Hangman.
Glen Powell reveals how Tom Cruise helped him lean into the role
During his conversation with GQ, Glen Powell admitted to his initial resistance to accepting the role. Explaining how he, just like all other artists wanted to be liked and not despised on camera, he said,
“Sometimes you can fall into the trap of wanting to be liked on camera. And in a movie like this, where you know there’s going to be a lot of eyes on it, you don’t want to be Draco Malfoy.”
Furthermore, he added that it was Tom Cruise’s advice that helped him embrace the character and deliver a great performance. He added,
“But Tom gave me this advice: ‘For the ending to work, you have to completely lean into that. Everybody else in the movie is questioning their own ability. You’re the only guy that’s not questioning it. So if there’s any sort of apology in anything you say, the movie doesn’t work. Lean into the douchebaggery of it all.”
And this helped Powell to take up the challenge and embody the arrogant character of Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin even when he was skeptical of it being a good move for his career.
But why was Glen Powell not sure of the Hangman character?
During the conversation, Powell revealed that he is fed up with being cast as the bad guy in every project. Citing his roles like Ollie Hudson in Scream Queens, Powell wanted to veer away from his usual roles. However, while going through the role of Hangman, Powell explained that he could not understand why the character existed. And this added up to his hesitation to take up the role. He said,
“He (Hangman) was there to add conflict to Rooster’s [Miles Teller] character, which is a good thing, but he wasn’t three-dimensional and he had no payoff. I didn’t know why he existed.”
However, glad that he took Tom Cruise’s advice and went ahead with the $1.4 Billion project, Powell added,
“It was a leap of faith. In hindsight, I’m like, ‘God, I can’t imagine if I missed out on this one,’ but it wasn’t so obvious.”
Furthermore, The Dark Knight Rises actor shared that Tom Cruise told him that he did not need people to root for his character. However, he added that the audience must love watching him and his craft on-screen.
Source: Indie Wire
