Glenn Powell has been on the verge of stardom for quite some time. Probably since he starred in one of the best Netflix rom-coms: Set It Up. He can be cocky, he can be funny, he can be romantic, and he has a natural charm that always makes you want to root for his characters.

If Top Gun: Maverick had been released in 2019, as it was originally planned, he would already be a sought-after star (and probably a superhero). 2022 might be the year when he finally becomes a lead Hollywood actor. This weekend, you’ll be able to see him in the new Tom Cruise movie, playing “Hangman”, the one pilot we’ll love to hate (they’re saying he’ll be the “Iceman” of this new generation). As Powell told Entertainment Weekly, Tom Cruise convinced him to take on that role after he had lost his audition for “Rooster”, Miles Teller’s character. For now, and without having seen Top Gun: Maverick, here are Glen Powell’s best performances, ranked:

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4 Hidden Figures (2016)

     20th Century Fox

Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures tells the story of three Black women who were indispensable to NASA at the start of the space program. Without the knowledge, intelligence, and hard work of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janell Monáe), NASA wouldn’t have been able to put John Glenn into orbit; the first step of the space program and their mission to send men to the moon.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Hidden Figuresmay be a film where women smash the patriarchy, but it is also much more. It also highlights a period of unrest in American history when segregation was still part of day-to-day life, and shows how these three women had to break all kinds of barriers at NASA to be successful. Powell plays John Glenn, the first astronaut to go into orbit. Although it’s a secondary character, Powell is already showing his charisma and intelligence, while being goofy and having fun with his interpretation of the historic astronaut.

3 Scream Queens (2015-2016)

     20th Television

This satirical slasher comedy is one of the last entries in the Ryan Murphy verse. A sorority is continually attacked by a serial killer dressed as the school mascot; a menacing red devil. Full of self-centered characters who lack basic human decency, the tone and line-reading are bonkers. As a good slasher series, it keeps making you question every character as all have motives, and all are awful enough to be a serial killer.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, Scream Queens has Emma Roberts and Jamie Lee Curtis as the show’s stars. The rest of the cast is ludicrous, as it includes actors like Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Nasim Pedrad, Billie Lourd, Nick Jonas, and a great performance by Keke Palmer. Powell plays Chad Radwell, the egocentric and popularity-obsessed boyfriend. In this role, he doesn’t take himself too seriously as he plays the unhinged frat-bro up to eleven to get a performance matching the rest of the over-the-top characters and tone.

2 Set It Up (2018)

     Netflix

Set It Up is the story of two overworked assistants, Charlie (Powell), and Harper (Zoey Deutch), who spend their whole day at the service of their bosses. They made the two workers satisfy their every whim, doing all types of menial tasks, many of them non-related to their professional jobs. The protagonists meet in the building after hours while working, and they decide to hatch a plan to set up their tyrannical bosses, so they can have a life of their own again. As they create artificial meet-cutes and lovely moments for their bosses, Charlie and Harper keep spending time together, getting to know each other until they (surprise!) fall in love.

The chemistry between the two leads is undeniable, announcing to the world the arrival of two new rom-com stars. If those kinds of movies could still be a hit at the box office, we might have seen the start of the new Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Deutch and Powell. It was Glen Powell’s first lead role, and he shows why he could be a romantic lead for decades. He’s charming, romantic, goofy, vulnerable, unpretentious, and makes fun of himself, but he’s also believable as a bit of a jerk, with big insecurities and not much self-esteem. All those qualities endear him to Deutch’s character as they understand that they’re made for each other.

1 Everybody Wants Some! (2016)

     Paramount Pictures

It’s 1980 in Texas, and Jake Bradford (Blake Jenner), an all-state pitcher in high school, spends his first weekend in college. As a baseball recruit, he spends all his time at the team’s off-campus house having fun, meeting the other players, and starting to have the college experience the right way. There’s booze, parties, and girls. But, there’s also brotherhood, competition, and baseball.

Everybody Wants Some! is one of Richard Linklater’s Best Films, and as always with his oeuvre, it’s a fun time at the movies. On this occasion, he creates a perfect hangout film and one of the best college movies of all time. The whole team is full of hilarious characters with their idiosyncrasies, and every actor nails their part. Full of talented actors that have gone on to do bigger things, like Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, and Zoey Deutsch, Powell steals the show. Although he’s just one of the team’s players, he gives Finn all the charisma and the best lines.

Powell told GQ in the oral history of the movie that together with Linklater, they decided that “Finn is who you said you were (in college), but you weren’t”, and he nails that aura. Everyone would like to be Finn’s friend, because you know that you’ll have a great time, all the time.