Glen Powell Defends Ryan Gosling’s Star Appeal Against Producer’s Critique

Glen Powell is defending Ryan Gosling’s star power. Recently, Powell responded to a viral comment on X (formerly known as Twitter) from an unnamed Hollywood producer. The producer had lauded Powell as the biggest up-and-coming movie star while giving Gosling a back-handed compliment.

The unnamed producer told The Wrap that Powell is now officially a movie star “in the sense that audiences now go to movies to see him.” However, the producer then hinted at a limitation to Gosling’s appeal by adding, “Unlike an actor like Ryan Gosling whose appeal is mostly limited to female audiences, Glen appeals to both females and males.”

Powell responded to this comment in a playful manner. “Gosling is a legend. I’m just Glen,” he said, riffing on Gosling’s iconic “I’m just Ken” slogan from the movie “Barbie.” This response quickly gained traction on the social media platform, amassing 100,000 likes and counting.

Powell has risen to stardom at a time when Hollywood has found it difficult to create new A-listers. In an interview with GQ magazine, George Clooney remarked that changes in major studios have lessened the industry’s power to create movie stars.

“They haven’t developed stars the way the studio system used to,” Clooney noted. “[Brad Pitt and I] kind of were at the very end of that, where you could work at a studio and do three or four films, and there was some plan to it. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore. So it’s harder for you to sell somebody something on the back of a star.”

Earlier this year, Jeff Bock, an analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Variety that Powell and Timothee Chalamet are “ushering in a new talent base of bankable stars.” He added that this is “wonderful for audiences, but even more so, a massive relief for the industry, which has been relying on aging talent for far too long.”

Powell has several upcoming projects, including Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man” and the Hulu comedy series “Chad Powers.”

Source: The Wrap, Variety, GQ