Why Glen Powell is turning his back on Hollywood

Anyone But You star Glen Powell’s star is on the rise – but he’s about to move out of Hollywood and plans to go back to uni.

Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. Picture: Getty

Actor Glen Powell’s career is on the up – but the star has revealed in a new interview that he’s about to make a hasty exit from Hollywood.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Anyone But You and Top Gun star Powell meets with the journalist just as he’s turned over the keys to his house in the Hollywood Hills, preparing to move back to his home state of Texas to be closer to his family. He also plans to finish his college degree at the University of Texas, which he’d deferred in his early 20s to chase his acting dreams.

It may seem an odd move for an actor who, at 35, is suddenly as big as ever, but Powell argues that that’s exactly the point.

He told the outlet he felt he’d reached a stage “in Hollywood … that I can now leave Hollywood.”

Powell and Sydney Sweeney’s rom com Anyone But You was a surprise smash hit. Picture: Getty

Powell says some advice from another Hollywood star cemented his decision. Picture: Getty

“It’s like I’ve earned the ability to go back to my family.”

He revealed that advice from seasoned Hollywood actor — and fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey — helped him decide to relocate back to his hometown of Austin.

McConaughey had told him Hollywood was “the Matrix, man. You plug in and it’s all fake world.”

McConaughey, who also lives in Austin, had told him the Texas city was by comparison “all real. Those are my friends, that’s my family, my actions matter there.”

“And he’s right. And for me, especially as my parents get older and my niece and nephew are growing up, I want a separation of those worlds,” said Powell.

And so THR reports that Powell has bought a house just 30 minutes drive from his parents, which will be his home base even as he continues his Hollywood acting career and spends many a night away filming.

But it seems Powell’s already pulling back on his workload: He reveals in the interview that he recently turned down a role in the next Jurassic Park movie, despite being a longtime fan of the franchise.

Powell is super-close to his parents – here they are trolling him at a recent premiere. Picture: Getty

“Jurassic is one of my favourite movies. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I’m not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn’t help it,” he said. “And the script’s great. The movie’s going to f**king kill. It’s not about that. It’s about choosing where you’re going to make an audience happy and where you’re going to make yourself happy.”

Powell is one of a growing list of actors who’ve left Hollywood over the years to start new, simpler lives away from the entertainment industry capital.

The OC starlet Mischa Barton moved to Europe in 2007 to escape paparazzi scrutiny – the same year Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen fled Los Angeles to live on a farm outside of Toronto. More recently, director Quentin Tarantino moved to Israel with his wife and children, while former TV heart throb Ian Somerhalder left LA with his wife to raise his family on a farm.