Glen Powell On Why He Doesn’t Talk Politics & Why ‘Running Man’ Flopped

Glen Powell is opening up about why he shies away from talking about politics publicly, even though his mother worked in the Reagan administration at the U.S. Treasury Department.

“Over time, I realized that politics divide people,” Powell told Esquire. “People trying to prove their point — for me, it’s the worst version of a conversation. I genuinely do not like the discourse. It’s not as healthy as it once was.”

He continued, “[Engaging in politics] is not presently possible. I applaud people for jumping into those things and fighting for what they believe in. If I were a political person, I would be talking about it. For me, my calling is elsewhere.”

Powell noted that growing up, politics was never discussed at the dinner table despite her mother’s job.

In the same interview, the actor also addressed why The Running Man flopped after he starred in a string of hits, including Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone but You, and Twisters.

“They let go of an entire marketing department a month before our movie came out in the middle of a merger,” Powell said, referring to the Paramount layoffs in October 2025.

The Running Man made under $70M on a reported $110M budget. Powell would then star in the A24 thriller How to Make a Killing, which also underperformed at $21M worldwide.

“There were a lot of issues with that,” Powell said. “There just was not enough time to do it properly. I look back on that one as an example of going, You know what, there’s no rush.”