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Glen Powell Reveals He Threw Up After Seeing The First Cut Of Hidden Figures; Here's Why
Glen Powell has recalled watching a rough cut of 2016’s Hidden Figures for the first time, admitting he was terrified his performance “ruined” the movie.
Glen Powell is sharing why he worried he ruined 2016’s Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. The actor, who portrayed astronaut John Glenn in the movie, made a recent appearance on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast where he recalled his first time watching a rough cut of the historical drama.
Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about three female African-American mathematicians: Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who worked at NASA during the Space Race.
Glenn Powell threw up after watching the first cut of Hidden Figures
Glen Powell portrayed real-life astronaut John Glenn in director Theodore Melfi’s Oscar-nominated movie, Hidden Figures. The historical drama was led by Octavia Spencer, Taraji P Henson and Janelle Monáe, who played the three African-American women, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, at NASA responsible for launching Glenn into space, making him the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth in 1962.
“It does get in your own head,” Powell explained. “People forget that when you’re watching a rough cut of a movie, it’s probably like watching the footage of yourself that you’re having to edit. So you sit there and you’re like, ‘I hate myself.’”
He continued, “I remember watching [Hidden Figures] for the first time on the Fox lot — and this was before all the effects were done, the music was in [and] the sound design — and I literally left the movie, and I puked in the bushes.”
The Anyone But You star noted that he truly thought he “ruined” the Theodore Melfi-directed movie starring Octavia Spencer, Taraji P Henson, and Janelle Monáe. "I was like, ‘All these women put in these great performances,’ and it’s like the legacy of these women. I was like, ‘I literally ruined this movie,'” Powell said. “It feels like the most atrocious thing you can do as an actor is just be terrible in a movie about real-life people that need a real-life story.”
However, once he saw the final cut of Hidden Figures with all the other elements added in, the actor’s opinion changed. “Once the music gets in there, it starts being polished a little bit,” he said. “We all want to be good … and nobody wants to be the weak point in a movie, especially when you’re talking about real-life stories.”
A brief about Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It tells the story of three African-American mathematicians, Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who worked at NASA during the Space Race. The film stars Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, and Glen Powell.
Hidden Figures had a limited release on December 25, 2016, by 20th Century Fox, before going wide on January 6, 2017. The film received positive reviews, with praise for the performances, particularly Henson, Spencer, and Monáe, the writing, direction, cinematography, emotional tone, and historical accuracy, although some argued it featured a white savior narrative.
During its limited release in 25 theaters from December 25, 2016, to January 5, 2017, the film grossed $3 million. In North America, Hidden Figures had its expansion alongside the opening of Underworld: Blood Wars and the wide expansions of Lion and A Monster Calls. It was expected to gross around $20 million from 2,471 theaters in its opening weekend, with the studio projecting a more conservative $15–17 million debut.
It made $7.6 million on its first day. Initially, projections had the film grossing $21.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing second behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($22 million). However the next day, final figures revealed the film tallied a weekend total of $22.8 million, beating Rogue One's $21.9 million. In its second weekend, the film grossed $20.5 million, again topping the box office.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 325 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.
The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016[5] and received various awards and nominations, including three nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
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