Glen Powell Was Paid $35,000 for His ‘Hidden Figures’ Role: ‘I Was Dead Broke’

Glen Powell was “barely getting by” before his breakout role in “Top Gun: Maverick,” even after appearing in other Oscar-nominated films.

Powell had a small role in 2017 historical feature “Hidden Figures,” which the actor recalled was the only film he starred in for a year’s time. That means his “Hidden Figures” salary of $35,000 had to tide him over for a whole 12 months.

More from IndieWire

• Dave Filoni Finds the Idea of an R-Rated 'Star Wars' to Be 'Interesting' - with Major Caveats

• More Sex, Less Tragedy: Rose Troche on 'Go Fish' at 30

“I had a small role in ‘Hidden Figures,’ but I had such a good feeling about that movie and what it would become. It’s that point in your career where you’re barely getting by,” Powell told Interview magazine. “I think I made $35,000 on that movie, and it was the only movie I made that year.”

He added, “There’s a lot of things I could have done in terms of guest spots, but basically, I made a decision to use my old UT [University of Texas] economics class, which is just supply and demand, and take supply out of it and hope demand would follow. Just letting the town know I’m not going to take those things that are the obvious choices that guys take at this moment in their career. That was the hardest part for me, because I was dead broke. But I remembered at that moment trying to be discerning and not go down the wrong path.”

Even now with Powell’s fame given rom-com “Anyone But You,” action-comedy “Hit Man,” and the upcoming “Twisters,” Powell admitted to still feeling out of place in Hollywood.

“There’s this imposter syndrome that goes along with it, where you have to act like you’re the guy, but somewhere deep inside of you is the struggling actor — the guy that knows that you’re lucky to be there,” Powell said. “It’s important that it never leaves you, because it keeps you human, but at the same time, it can also inspire fear-based decisions, which are the death of a career.”

Powell recently told GQ UK that he was in the final casting round to play Han Solo in “Star Wars” prequel film “Solo” circa 2018, AKA shortly after “Hidden Figures,” but lost the lead part to Alden Ehrenreich.

“I can joke about it now, [but] I blew that final audition,” Powell admitted. “It’s haunting when you blow those moments. But that’s one of the parts of [the Hollywood myth] that’s not true. That was always somebody else’s ride to go on. You know what I mean? It was never yours to go on. If you put your time in, you’ll get your ride.”

Best of IndieWire

• 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie

• The 55 Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now

• A History of Unsimulated Sex Scenes in 17 Cannes Films, from 'Mektoub' to 'Antichrist' to 'Caligula'

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.