- - Glen Powell Reveals What Famous Pals Like Arnold Schwarzenegger Said About 'Intense' Demands of Being an Action Star (Exclusive)

Michael Nied, Kimberlee SpeakmanNovember 10, 2025 at 9:25 PM

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CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty; Noam Galai/Getty

Glen Powell, Arnold Schwarzenegger -

While speaking to PEOPLE at the premiere of his new movie, The Running Man, Glen Powell opened up about conversations that he's had with friends about starring in action movies

He said Arnold Schwarzenegger and other pals warned him that the project would be "intense"

Powell's The Running Man is a remake of Schwarzenegger's 1987 movie of the same name

Glen Powell got insight about starring in action movies from a very experienced group before his role in The Running Man.

The 37-year-old Twisters actor takes center stage in the dystopian action film, a remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 flick of the same name.

While attending the movie's premiere at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City on Sunday, Nov. 9, Powell spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about what Schwarzenegger and other pals told him about getting into the action genre.

"It was funny talking with Schwarzenegger the other day," Powell says, recalling that his Expendables 3 costar "saw the movie" and "lost his mind for it."

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Glen Powell

Powell continues, "He was so excited, but he told me, he said... And every single one of my buddies who have starred in action movies told [me] this. They were saying, ‘I don't think you realize going and being out in front of an action movie where’ — again, in this movie, the entire world is hunting this one guy — I would tell them the premise. They're like, ‘Oh, that's gonna be, that's gonna be something. That's gonna be intense.’ And it's true."

"To do it right, to do one of these movies right, and I really am so proud of what we did in this movie... It's very, it's very physical. It's very emotional, it's all those things," Powell says.

Back in April, Powell told PEOPLE that he and The Running Man director, Edgar Wright, spoke to Schwarzenegger before remaking the original movie, which also starred the likes of María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown and Jesse Ventura.

"Arnold gave us his blessing," the Anyone But You star confirmed, adding that they chatted via FaceTime. "[His son] Patrick Schwarzenegger is a great friend of mine and I asked Patrick if I could talk to Arnold and I hadn't seen Arnold since we shot Expendables in Bulgaria."

More recently, Schwarzenegger referred to The Running Man as "the only movie that I always wanted to have redone of my movies."

"So now, this one really upped it and did exactly that. The action was unbelievable and creative," he gushed to Powell and Wright in a video shared on Instagram.

Paramount Pictures ; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Glen Powell in 'The Running Man' ; Arnold Schwarzenegger on set of the movie 'The Running Man' in 1987.

Both Powell and Schwarzenegger play Ben Richards in The Running Man, which is loosely based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name.

"In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television — a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward," an official synopsis of the film reads.

It continues: "Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite — and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall."

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in July, Powell confirmed that the movie pushed him to tackle some impressive stunts, even though his mom wasn't a huge fan of the idea.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount Pictures

Glen Powell in 'The Running Man'

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“I’m getting to do some really cool stuff,” he told the outlet, adding, “That really worries my mom.”

On top of The Running Man, which is in theaters on Friday, Nov. 14, Powell has another big gig coming up. The actor is set to host the Nov. 15 episode of Saturday Night Live.

"I’m so excited. Hosting SNL has been a thing I’ve wanted to do my entire life," he gushes to PEOPLE at the premiere. "I got to go last night. I got to watch and, it was just surreal. It's just, it's just surreal. It's a really wonderful moment that, you know, your childhood dreams get to come true. So I've been, I've been waiting to be on that stage for as long as I can remember, so I'm really excited about it."

The Running Man releases in theaters on Nov. 14.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”