EXCLUSIVE: Glen Powell Reveals How Actual Tornado Experience Shaped His Twisters Role; Says 'There's Real Depth To Him'
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, Glen Powell revealed how his personal tornado experience shaped his role in Twisters, adding genuine depth to his character.
![Glen Powell as Tyler Owens in Twisters (Warner Bros. Pictures) Warner Bros. Pictures](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-07/1846621521_image-1280x720-2024-07-15t142040-compressed.jpg)
This summer, the epic studio disaster movie returns with an adrenaline-pumping, seat-gripping, big-screen thrill ride called Twisters — a film that puts you in direct contact with one of nature’s most wondrous — and destructive — forces.
From the producers of the Jurassic, Bourne, and Indiana Jones series come Twisters, a contemporary chapter of the 1996 blockbuster Twister.
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar-nominated writer-director of Minari, Twisters stars Golden Globe nominee Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People) and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) as opposing forces who come together to try and predict — and possibly tame — the immense power of tornadoes.
The plot of Twisters - Glen Powell discusses personal tornado experience that influenced his on-screen role
Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City.
She, however, is lured back to the open plains by her friend Javi to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew; the more dangerous, the better.
As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Powell noted he has a special affinity for the original Twister and his fandom grew out of an intimate familiarity with the subject matter.
Raised in Austin, Powell remembered traveling with his family to East Texas in May 1997, when he was about 9 years old, to visit his aunt. The family happened to be in the small town of Jarrell (population approximately 3,400) when a tornado touched down. That infamous tornado, an F5 storm stretching three-quarters of a mile wide, obliterated more than 30 homes and caused over 27 fatalities.
Per Powell, his family took shelter in a carpet store, and in the days after the storm, he and his extended family helped the locals clean up the devastation. That experience of seeing how tornadoes impact people’s lives informed his performance.
“I wanted to start out with my character presenting as exactly the guy you think he is — this self-promoting adrenaline junkie," Powell told us, adding, "But then you realize there’s real depth to him."
He went on to describe his team of stormchasers in the movie as a traveling circus of thrill-seekers with a casual, devil-may-care attitude. The actor, however, issued a caveat, saying that no matter how reckless his team may appear, they have immense respect for the force of nature that they deal with regularly. They also care deeply about the people affected by the destruction caused by tornadoes.
More importantly, Powell explained that the group evolved from being mere teammates into a close-knit family that works together, supports each other, and helps those they encounter on their journey.
"They have something to offer Kate (Edgar-Jones) because they represent what she’s really chasing after in this movie: family,” the Anyone But You actor said of his co-star's character.
The talented cast of Twisters and the creative minds behind the exciting new sequel
Besides Powell and Edgar-Jones, Twisters also stars Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Brandon Perea (Nope), Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy), and Sasha Lane (American Honey), along with David Corenswet (upcoming Superman: Legacy), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and Nik Dodani (Atypical).
Chung directs from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, writer of the Best Picture nominee The Revenant, from a story by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion), based on characters created by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. Twisters is produced by Oscar nominee Frank Marshall (Jurassic and Indiana Jones franchises) and Patrick Crowley (Jurassic and Bourne franchises), and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Thomas Hayslip, and Ashley Jay Sandberg.
Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Amblin Entertainment present the Lee Isaac Chung film, which is distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film is set to release in cinemas in India on Thursday, July 18, in English and Hindi, with IMAX screenings also on offer.
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