‘Sometimes you have to lean into a bit’: Glen Powell on Sydney Sweeney Affair and What Tom Cruise Told Him

Glen Powell recounts Tom Cruise’s advice, which helped him navigate through the entire Anyone But You controversy.

Left Image Via Universal Pictures, Right Image Via Columbia Pictures

Glen Powell has opened up about his approach to the affair rumors with Sydney Sweeney, which clouded Anyone But You‘s marketing.

For the unversed, their off-screen chemistry flooded tabloid headlines and online speculation.

But instead of debunking the rumors, Powell opted to take Tom Cruise‘s advice of turning down the volume and trusting his own gut (via GQ).

[Tom] basically said, ‘Hey, it’s going to get really, really loud.

It’s your job to just turn the volume down.

Just remember you have your hand on that switch.

You have your hand on the ability to turn up that noise or turn it down.’ And really just turning down the noise and trusting your own gut has been a real godsend for me.

As the story goes, both Powell and Sweeney leaned into the affair allegations, which unsurprisingly led to the movie’s box-office boom.

Anyone But You Leveraged Glen Powell-Sydney Sweeney Drama

While rom-coms haven’t been the norm in the mainstream climate for years, Anyone But You ended up surpassing expectations, grossing over $220M (via Box Office Mojo) despite middling reception among critics.

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Considering chemistry between the main leads is often the key to success for rom-coms, in Anyone But You‘s case, this advantage was doubled.

Instead of debunking the rumors outright, Sweeney and Powell leaned into the drama, selling the people what they wanted to see (via The New York Times).

Sydney and I have a ton of fun together, and we have a ton of effortless chemistry.

That’s people wanting what’s on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully.

Sydney is very smart.

Needless to say, the movie thrived off the free publicity, as many began drawing parallels with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith drama.

Movie
IMDb
Rotten Tomatoes
Box Office

Anyone But You
6.1
53%
$220.3M

Even though all of the affair rumors were proven to be hooey, it did cost Powell his relationship with Gigi Paris.

Anyone But You‘s Marketing Campaign Pushed Gigi Paris to End Things With Glen Powell

Appearing on the Too Much Podcast, Paris felt she had two options regarding the drama, either go along with the speculations or stand up for herself.

Paris, as it goes, chose the latter, stressing that she was not okay with this.

A still from Anyone But You | Credit: Columbia Pictures

She further slammed the Top Gun: Maverick star for not dispersing the rumors by simply admitting, “No, I would never cheat on my girlfriend”.

I just wanted respect, especially if it’s gonna be public.

Like, don’t make an ass out of me.

Like, just don’t make a fool out of someone you’ve been with for over three years, talking about forever with.

Just have some decency, you know?

Powell later addressed Paris’ claims, saying everyone is entitled to their own narrative, and clarified that he will always bear love and respect for Paris.

As for Sweeney, her former fiancé, Jonathan Davino, also parted ways after the movie.

But amid all this drama, a sequel to Anyone But You seems likely after the original’s success.

Do you think the strategy was worth it? Comment below!

Anyone But You is currently streaming on Netflix (USA).