Glen Powell on adopting dog Brisket, going back to college

Glen Powell became a dog dad while filming ‘Twisters’; now, he’s after a degree

Glen Powell smiles in a black suit while standing in front of a backdrop

July 17, 2024 12:35 PM PT

Since his breakout role in “Top Gun: Maverick,” Glen Powell has maintained a busy schedule — he has even graduated to double-booking.

Most recently, the actor’s time was split between filming and puppy training, he told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Monday.

Powell adopted his dog Brisket last year while on the set of the tornado thriller “Twisters,” releasing in theaters Friday. He was sitting in a coffee shop in Enid, Okla., he said, when the idea struck: “I don’t even know how to describe it, I just had the desire to be a father.”

After stumbling upon a picture of Brisket on Instagram, Powell took a weekend off filming and flew to L.A. to collect the pup.

“I was like, ‘Are you sure you want to get a puppy right now?’” recalled “Twisters” director Lee Isaac Chung. “But he did, and everybody loved that dog.”

Like most first-time fathers, Powell said he didn’t get much sleep when he brought Brisket back to Oklahoma; still crate-training, the puppy cried throughout the night. But during the day, he was an angel.

“Brisket would just kick it with every department head, and he would sit in my chair and just sleep,” Powell said. “He really became sort of a set mascot on that movie.”

“Sets can be very lonely places, and it’s interesting when you see a dog that’s just filling you up with love, how it brings a cast together even more,” Powell continued. “Brisket’s been amazing. I consider him the best special feature of ‘Twisters.’”

Brisket has since attended the L.A. premiere of “Twisters” and graced the covers of GQ and EW.

Now christened into fatherhood, Powell on Tuesday told IndieWire that next on the docket is completing his college degree while shooting his next film, “The Running Man.” The Edgar Wright-directed dystopian action movie is a remake of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger cult favorite, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.

Powell attended the University of Texas at Austin for a year before moving to L.A. in 2008 at his agent’s suggestion. This fall, he said he’ll attend classes via Zoom from the London set of “The Running Man,” visiting the Texas campus a handful of times to take his exams.

“I think it’s really important to my mom and it’s more of an emotional thing for me,” Powell told the Hollywood Reporter in May. “Plus, I’m so close, I can taste it.”

“We love @glenpowell too and can’t wait to have him back on the Forty Acres! 🤘,” UT Austin wrote Wednesday on X.