Glen Powell is giving Sydney Sweeney “all the credit” for those dating rumors.
“I don’t have the mental capacity to pull anything like this off, but she’s very smart. She’s very smart,” Powell admitted during an interview with Business Insider, published earlier this month. “And look, Sydney and I do have authentic chemistry.”
The duo star in Anyone But You, a rom-com in which they pretend to date despite hating each other. Fans started to speculate in April that their onscreen personas were bleeding into real life when Powell, 35, and Sweeney, 26, cozied up in photos that quickly went viral.
While Powell noted that he had “a wonderful journey” with Sweeney when making the film, heightening their real-life relationship to promote the movie proved to be challenging for the actor.
“The only reason it made things harder for me to lean into that stuff was that I was going through a very real breakup amidst a promotional tour,” he explained. “I was with someone that I really loved and cared about and was trying to kind of make sense of a lot of stuff.”
He continued, “It was a lot easier for Sydney to lean into something like that because she’s in a very committed and wonderful relationship and she’s very happy. So it was a little harder for me.”
Powell was referring to his split from girlfriend of three years Gigi Paris. As photos of Powell and Sweeney cozying up on set were shared online, Us Weekly confirmed that Paris, 31, unfollowed him on Instagram. Later that month, multiple outlets confirmed that Powell and Paris had split.
Sweeney, for her part, has been in a relationship with Jonathan Davino since 2018. Us confirmed in March 2022 that the two were engaged. Davino produced Anyone But You alongside Sweeney.
All things considered, Powell did praise Sweeney’s “impressive sense of marketing,” noting that she knows “what is new and fresh and cool.”
Would the Top Gun: Maverick star work with her again?
“In a heartbeat,” he said.
Anyone But You was released earlier this month, but it feels like Powell and Sweeney have been dodging real-life dating rumors for the better part of a year.
“It’s a rom-com, that’s what people want!” Sweeney told Variety in August, breaking her silence on the speculation about her status with Powell.
It took months for Powell to first address the “alleged affair.” He spoke candidly about the aftermath of the rumors in his November Men’s Health cover story.
“When all that stuff happened, you know, publicly, it felt disorienting and unfair,” he explained. “But what I’m realizing is that’s just a part of this gig now.”
