Remembering Glen Powell’s Breakout Role on ‘Scream Queens’

Before Glen Powell became the newest “It Boy” in the film industry, he dodged the Red Devil and Green Meenie on Fox’s Scream Queens. Although the had appeared in numerous films and shows before starring in the Ryan Murphy horror drama in 2015, his portrayal of Chad Radwell marked his breakthrough role.

The series ran for two seasons on Fox and initially centered on a serial killer terrorizing a college campus. Season 2 took place at a teaching hospital and was likewise being terrorized by a different serial killer. Alongside Powell, Scream Queens had a pretty impressive cast that included Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, and Billie Lourd. Throughout the two seasons, Ariana Grande, Jamie Lee Curtis, Niecy Nash, Skyler Samuels, Diego Boneta, Oliver Hudson, Kirstie Alley, Taylor Lautner and John Stamos also starred.

As the egotistical and shallow president of the Dicki Dollar Scholars fraternity at Wallace University, Chad had it all. This also included his on-and-off relationship with Emma Roberts’ Chanel Oberlin, the equally egotistical president of Kappa Kappa Tau. He also had affairs and relationships with many of the characters. His feelings towards the university’s serial killer, the Red Devil, only became more apparent when his best friend and frat brother Boone Clemmens (Nick Jonas) was supposedly murdered. He initially wanted to help stop the Red Devil but is too afraid to once most of his frat brothers are killed.

At the end of the first season, Chad opened up a charity in memory of his late frat brothers, and in Season 2, he snuck into the asylum that the Chanels were in while wearing the Red Devil costume in order to scare Chanel and get her back. The two get engaged but unfortunately, as she walked down the aisle, Chad’s dead body fell from a story above her. His death was definitely unexpected and heartbreaking, but it was surely memorable.

While Scream Queens was canceled back in 2016, Ryan Murphy has floated around the idea of a third season or a movie. It is definitely one of the Fox series that needs to be revived, no matter how it is. Two seasons wasn’t enough. If the show were to come back, it’s unlikely that Glen Powell would return, given that his character died, but if Ariana Grande’s character could come back as a ghost for a hot minute after her death, perhaps the same could be said for Chad Radwell? Both seasons are streaming on Hulu, if anyone wants to relive the masterpiece, that is Scream Queens.