Glen Powell has opened up about why he prefers to stay away from political conversations during press interviews. The Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Hit Man and Twisters star has become increasingly prominent in Hollywood without making politics a major part of his public persona. As Powell enters another busy stretch of his career, that choice has become part of the larger conversation around how much actors want to bring their personal views into the spotlight. 

This time, however, he is explaining why politics is one subject he would rather leave outside the spotlight.

In his new Esquire magazine profile, Glenn Powell reflected on growing up in a household where politics and current events were not regular dinner-table subjects. Looking back, the actor said “thank God” his parents did not bring those conversations into family meals. According to the magazine, Powell’s interest in politics has only diminished with time, largely because of what he believes political discussion has become. 

“Over time, I realized that politics divide people,” he said. 

“People trying to prove their point — for me, it’s the worst version of a conversation. I genuinely do not like the discourse….I applaud people for jumping into those things and fighting for what they believe in,” he said.

That answer lands differently when placed beside the physical intensity Powell has embraced throughout his career. The actor has gone from the swaggering Hangman of Top Gun: Maverick to the romantic-comedy charm of Anyone But You, the shape-shifting con artist of Hit Man and the tornado-chasing Tyler Owens in Twisters. His recent run has made him one of Hollywood’s busiest young stars, but his latest interview suggests that not every available platform needs to become a soapbox.

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But Powell’s latest Esquire conversation is not only about the subjects he chooses to leave off the press-tour agenda. The profile also pulls back the curtain on what he was willing to endure physically while making his next major film. 

The same Esquire magazine profile also revisits one of the more alarming chapters from Glen Powell’s work on Edgar Wright’s The Running Man. During a fight scene, a retractable prop knife struck his hand with enough force to rupture a tendon. Powell initially kept working because the film had a release date and his J.J. Abrams project was already waiting in the wings.

The injury eventually became much more serious. After worsening pain and swelling sent him to a Bulgarian emergency room, doctors discovered that the tissue had been completely severed and that Powell had developed a septic infection. He was warned that he could wake up without his hand and underwent surgery, but returned to filming the following day. The production incorporated his bandaged arm into the movie, even as Powell shot a sequence in freezing conditions while climbing an apartment building wearing only a bath towel.

Powell’s comments about politics and his Running Man ordeal ultimately reveal the same instinct from two very different angles: he is becoming more deliberate about what deserves his energy. As his career enters another phase, that may prove just as important as the roles themselves.

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What do you think about Glen Powell’s decision to stay out of political discourse? Share your thoughts in the comments.