“Anyone But You” star Glen Powell is finally coming clean about what fans of his hit rom-com with Sydney Sweeney kinda-sorta suspected.
It is that he and Sweeney staged flirtatious off-screen moments in order to generate buzz about “Anyone But You,” fueling speculation that their on-screen chemistry wasn’t just acting. The speculation reached a fever pitch last year after Powell and his long-time girlfriend broke up, giving rise to rumors that he and Sweeney had really fallen for each other during production in Australia and started an affair.
But Powell admitted in an interview with the New York Times, as “Anyone But You” began streaming on Netflix this week, that the speculation played out just as he and Sweeney intended.
“The two things that you have to sell a rom-com are fun and chemistry. Sydney and I have a ton of fun together, and we have a ton of effortless chemistry,” Powell told the Times. “That’s people wanting what’s on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully.”
Powell also said that Sweeney was the genius behind this marketing ploy. “Sydney is very smart,” he said.
Sweeney was both the star of the film was the film’s executive producer and acknowledged that she was intimately involved with the marketing strategy, “including, perhaps, fanning those headline-generating flames,” the Times reported.
“I was on every call. I was in text group chats. I was probably keeping everybody over at Sony marketing and distribution awake at night because I couldn’t stop with ideas,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that we were actively having a conversation with the audience as we were promoting this film, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones who created the entire narrative.”
Fans of the illicit romance rumors probably should have finally realized they were being played when Sweeney hosted “Saturday Night Live” in early March.
During her opening monologue, the “Euphoria” star addressed all the rumors about her, saying that the “craziest” was the one about her and Powell supposedly having an affair.
“That’s obviously not true,” she said, mentioning that she and her fiancé, Jonathan Davino, produced the film together and he “was there the entire shoot.”
“I just want to let everyone know that he’s the man of my dreams, and we’re still together and stronger than ever,” Sweeney continued. She then announced that he was in the audience and asked the camera to cut to him.
But when the camera cut to this man of Sweeney’s dreams, it showed Powell sitting in the studio. The audience roared in laughter at the joke.
While critics were mixed on “Anyone But You,” and the film’s initial week at the box office over Christmas weekend was “anemic,” something about it caught on with audiences, the New York Times said. Audiences began showing up in theaters to watch it, with younger viewers going to see it multiple times, the Times also said. The rom-com ended up grossing more than $218 million worldwide.
The R-rated film follows uncertain law school student Bea (played by Sweeney) meeting Ben (Powell) by chance in a coffee shop. They immediately hit it off but their night together ends badly. Some time later, they unexpectedly find themselves at a destination wedding in Australia, where, for contrived rom-com plot reasons, they have to pretend to be a couple.
The film is another loose film adaptation of Shakespeare — in this case, “Much Ado About Nothing” — with the addition of bawdy humor and over-the-top romantic gestures, as well as an attractive cast and scenery. And, yes, Sweeney and Powell have lots of chemistry together, and there are talks about them re-teaming for another project, the Times said.
