Paul Schrader Compares Glen Powell to Paul Newman, Wants Him to Star in a Film Like ‘Hud’
With Richard Linklater, Edgar Wright, and Tom Cruise calling Glen Powell the modern version of an Old Hollywood leading man, it’s only fitting that Paul Schrader would chime in.
The “Oh, Canada” writer/director posted on Facebook that Powell is akin to Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and William Holden in terms of his star power.
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“Glen Powell is a movie star in the Holden/Mitchum/Newman mold,” Schrader wrote. “Now he needs to make his ‘Hud.'”
Newman starred in the 1963 Western-tinged drama “Hud,” directed by Martin Ritt, which helped cement the rise of the antihero main characters. Newman’s titular Hud Bannon lives on his family cattle ranch in Texas and battles his nephew (Brandon de Wilde) for the affections of housekeeper Alma (Patricia Neal). Newman gave a performance as an arrogant, abusive alcoholic that earned him an Academy Award Best Actor nomination. The film went on to win Best Cinematography, with Melvyn Douglas and Neal earning respective acting awards.
Could Schrader be casting Powell in a “Hud”-esque feature soon? He’d have to fit it into a busy schedule that also includes an upcoming film about sexual obsession, hopes of casting Kevin Spacey in a Frank Sinatra biopic, and lots of posting on Facebook. The prolific social media user recently told The Independent that Facebook is a “very efficient” way to review films.
“I can’t really be a film reviewer because there are things you can say that are detrimental to your career,” Schrader said, adding that he would never criticizes actors or friends like Martin Scorsese online.
He previously said to Vulture that review-aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes is proof of a “broken” system of film criticism.
“The studios didn’t invent Rotten Tomatoes, and most of them don’t like it,” Schrader said. “But the system is broken. Audiences are dumber. Normal people don’t go through reviews like they used to. Rotten Tomatoes is something the studios can game. So they do.”
Schrader added, “I read some reviews of my own films where the writer might say that he doesn’t think that I pull something off, but, boy, is it interesting in the way that I don’t pull it off. To me, that’s a good review, but it would count as negative on Rotten Tomatoes.”
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