Glen Powell Is Leaving Hollywood for Texas: Here's Why

Glen Powell is leaving Hollywood and moving back to his home state of Texas -- and giving Matthew McConaughey all the credit for influencing his decision. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor, 35, opened up about his choice to leave Los Angeles after more than 15 years of hustle and bustle in the entertainment industry, opting to make Austin -- the city where he was born and raised -- his home base.

Powell -- whose popularity has skyrocketed since starring in 2022's box-office-breaking Top Gun: Maverick and 2023's Anyone But You -- says that the major benefit of "getting to this point in Hollywood is that I can now leave Hollywood."

"It's like I've earned the ability to go back to my family," the Screen Actors Guild Award winner shared, adding that 54-year-old McConaughey -- a fellow Texan and a major inspiration to Powell's career -- solidified his decision to move home now that he is in a stable situation.

"He's like, 'Hollywood is the Matrix, man. You plug in and it's all fake world,'" Powell shared of his conversation with the Interstellar actor. "He's like, 'Then I go to Austin, and I unplug. It's all real. Those are my friends, that's my family, my actions matter there.'"

McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves, moved their family to Texas from Malibu during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and have previously opened up about the difficult -- but ultimately right -- decision for them.

For his own part, Powell shared a story about interacting with the "fake world," saying that while he loves doing press for his movies -- including June's Hit Man and July's Twisters -- he has struggled with discerning what is real in La La Land.

He continued, "And he's right. If you're here, you live in the Matrix all the time, there's no separation of those worlds. And for me, especially as my parents get older and my niece and nephew are growing up, I want a separation of those worlds."

The Hidden Figures alum is incredibly close with his family members in Texas, so much so that he recently purchased a home within a half hour of his parents' house and invited his entire clan to the Austin premiere of his latest film, Hit Man, which he co-wrote with director Richard Linklater.

At the premiere last week, his parents -- Cyndy and Glen Sr. -- even trolled him on the red carpet by holding up signs poking fun at internet critics who have said Hollywood is trying to shove the Scream Queen actor down viewers throats.

"Stop trying to make Glen Powell happen" Cyndy's cardboard message read, while her husband's stated, "It's never gonna happen."

ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke with Powell at that event and got his reaction to the PDA (public display of animosity) from his parents behind him as he posed for photos. He said that to outsiders, it may seem like a weird way to show love, but for the Powells, it's just about right.

"Well, my family -- always my mom and my dad -- are known for kind of trolling me a bit," the Set It Up star shared. "They thought that was going to be a funny idea so I loved it."

He added, "Even though they troll me, they support me in every in every way."

That support comes in the form of his mom and dad lovingly standing behind his decision to move back to Texas, especially since his move comes with a college diploma on the horizon. Powell told THRthat he had hoped to finish his studies at the University of Texas at Austin by the time of the Hit Man premiere and his induction into the Austin Film Society’s Hall of Fame, but that things have been delayed by his burgeoning career.

The Scream Queens alum -- who said that he invited his university's dean to the Hit Man premiere -- shared that while some may question why he is even bothering finishing his education, it's long been a goal to get his degree and that it means something to his family.

"I think it's really important to my mom and it's more of an emotional thing for me," he told the outlet. "Plus, I'm so close, I can taste it."

Another thing in his future? Hopefully, a collaboration with McConaughey. When ET spoke with him at the Hit Man premiere in mid-May, he shared that he would be ready at a moment's notice to work with the Oscar winner if the opportunity should arise.

"Matthew's a guy I've looked up to forever, you know? He's in the Texas Film Hall of Fame and now I get to call him one of my friends," Powell said. "We call each other and talk football and I ask him for advice on stuff."

On possible projects together, he said that while they've "never talked about actually collaborating on something," he is just as hopeful as their fans.

"I think it will happen on the sooner side, yeah. I think we'll be on a set somewhere sometime soon," Powell told ET.

Hit Man -- which also stars Adria Arjona and Retta -- is in select theaters on May 24 and streaming on Netflix June 7.

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