It’s not that unheard of for two romcom stars to date while filming, but only few of them can win the coveted MTV Best Kiss Award. However, Syndey Sweneey and Glen Powell’s on-set romance was a little more ambiguous.
While the two were filming Anyone But You last year, Powell and Sweeney were rumored to be dating, despite the pair both having other partners. Then, Powell and his girlfriend split, and it got even more messy, with rumors that Powell had cheated on his girlfriend with Sweeney.
In a new interview, Powell told GQ that the frenzy (and subsequent media attention) was extremely stressful for him. “At the time, [the rumours] were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out! I was going through a real breakup at the time. It was stressful,” he said.
But instead of denying the rumors, Sweeney thought they should embrace them. “She’s dealt with the public eye before, she’s so much more comfortable than I am. She’s so in on the joke, man,” he told the mag. Her idea was to play up the rumors in order to keep the people talking. It worked– the romcom became a modest box office hit and now there are talks of a sequel.
Powell then compared Sweeney to Bruce Wayne, who is also famously sneak, because of her business moves. “She’s a businesswoman, and she understands that who she is in the public eye and who she is in reality are two separate people. It’s Bruce Wayne and Batman. You can shoot Batman as many times as you want, it’s not gonna affect Bruce Wayne.”
Even though the two playing up their non-romance was just a tactic, Powell says it all paid off. “That insane circus around it took a normal romcom and made it IP,” he says. “It was the electricity that kept that movie going. And we made the hell out of that movie. I’m really proud of it.”
Not only did the movie make bank, but Sweeney and Powell have vowed to work together again, which means more fake dating. This is all because of Madame Web! Thanks, Dakota Johnson.
(Via GQ)