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Glen Powell Credits NCIS Role For Helping Him Through Career Lull, Claims Hollywood 'No Longer Supports' Struggling Actors
In a recent interview, Glen Powell opened up about the challenges struggling actors face in Hollywood, sharing his personal experiences and reflecting on how the industry has changed in supporting emerging talent.
Before Glen Powell made it big, he says guest appearances in TV shows and movies helped him pay bills in Hollywood. The Twisters star, who has been in the industry since 2003, reflected on his days as a struggling actor and expressed concern for those still trying to break into showbiz. He feels the industry has become less supportive of aspiring actors.
“The business no longer supports struggling actors the way it did when I was coming up,” Powell, 36, told Vanity Fair in an interview for their Hollywood 2025 issue.
The actor recalled, “I would do an episode of NCIS, and that would keep me afloat for a year. You know what I mean?” Powell appeared on two episodes of the long-running CBS procedural as Marine Sergeant Evan Westcoat in 2012. While the actor didn’t reveal how much he made for his small role, he mentioned it was enough to survive in Hollywood for a year while cutting costs on redundant personal expenses, and that says a lot.
“You’re not necessarily able to afford anything significant in that town, but you are able to stay there. Those little jobs, like getting a commercial, keep life in the system,” Powell explained.
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Between 2003 and 2013, the Anyone But You actor had guest-starring roles on Jack & Bobby, Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, Rizzoli & Isles, and NCIS, as well as roles in a few shorts and other films.
“As a struggling actor, there’s no harder place to live than being in Hollywood,” Powell shared, adding, “The currency of that town is how relevant you are and what your last job is.”
In Tinseltown, young talents often get caught in a rut when they have nothing significant going on for themselves, Powell empathized. They convince themselves to keep spinning the roulette wheel without thinking why.
He, however, managed to avoid the rut and in 2015 landed his first major acting gig, playing Chad Radwell on Scream Queens. The following year, he starred in Hidden Figures, and in 2022 came Top Gun: Maverick. After starring alongside Tom Cruise in the action thriller, Powell really exploded in the acting scene.
Until similar positive things happen for those currently struggling, Powell shared some wise words, drawing from his personal experience. He encouraged aspiring actors to play make-believe and lie to themselves a little, reminding them that the bad phase they’re enduring at the moment is just a chapter in the greater scheme of life. Believing in the Hollywood legends of the people they admire—the ones who also went through long stretches of famine—will also help.
Next year, Powell is set to make a TV comeback with Chad Powers. He’s also scheduled to appear in Running Man and more.
Even when things are going well for him, Powell knows it could all change in an instant. That’s why he approaches his craft with an “audience first” mentality rather than a “me first” attitude.
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