Glen Powell Explores Male Friendships, ‘Emotional Intimacy’ With ‘The Best Man’s Ghostwriter’ (Exclusive)

Glen Powell is taking a deep dive into male friendships for his upcoming Audible Original The Best Man’s Ghostwriter. Ahead of the Sept. 12 premiere of the comedy podcast, Powell opened up to PopCulture.com about taking a step away from the camera and into the recording studio for a hilarious and heartfelt exploration of what it is that makes a best man a best friend.

In the new Audible Original podcast by writer/director and former best man scriptwriter Matt Starr, the Twisters star plays Nate, speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write best man speeches that won’t bring the wedding celebration to an awkward halt. While planning a wedding of his own, Nate is hired by Dan (Nicholas Braun), a hopelessly awkward best man for the biggest social media influencer’s wedding of the year, which forces him to explore the “insane and often idiotic world of male friendship.” 

“I have a lot of friends that have gotten married and are getting married, and you realize it’s such a big moment, the best man speech,” Powell told PopCulture. “[It’s] so defining, and there’s so much stress that’s put on that moment, not only for the person giving the speech, but for … the bridal and the groom’s party, and everybody around it.” That moment ends up being “the definition of a friendship,” Powell explained, making it a great opportunity for storytelling with humor and heart. 

“I think what it really explores is, why is someone your best friend?” the actor adds. “That touches on who you’re in a relationship with. It’s who you surround yourself with. It’s why you’re drawn to someone, why you spend all your time with someone, why you trust them with your secrets, and all these different things.”

Exploring deep friendships from the male perspective was especially enlightening. “It’s something we don’t talk about, and I think guys don’t often share how they feel. It just is,” Powell noted. “These people end up on the altar with you next to your side, but you don’t ever question why they’re there necessarily.”

He continued, “I think it’s a beautiful thing to tell someone. I think that’s why the poignancy of this [podcast] is telling someone why they mean something to you. It’s an important thing in this world … but [The Best Man’s Ghostwriter] really deals with male emotional intimacy.”

Powell may be best known for his leading man affect in blockbusters like Anyone But You and Top Gun: Maverick, but his previous experience with voice acting in Audible’s 2021 baseball drama 10 Days prepared him for the subtleties of discovering Nate in the recording studio. 

“You don’t have to give it more sauce just because [the audience is] not able to see your performance. It’s actually the opposite,” he explained. “Audiences are really tuned in to the small stuff in a different way on that medium. So, you can be big and wild and crazy, but you can also be incredibly subtle and audiences pick up on all of it.”

It’s also a “really tough” but “fun” acting exercise to roll from scene to scene while recording without time to “get into a head space” like actors are afforded on film or television sets. “It’s immediate and it’s quick,” Powell shared. “So you’re rolling from these moments to moments. For me, I just found it to be just a blast.”

All 10 episodes of The Best Man’s Ghostwriter drop Thursday on Audible.