Glen Powell certainly bares it all in the upcoming rom-com “Anyone but You,” especially when co-star Sydney Sweeney pulls out a large spider from the inside of his shorts.
“You just have to grip it and rip it on a scene like that,” Powell told Variety at the “Anyone but You” premiere in New York Monday night, referring to the moment he frantically strips naked in front of Sweeney. “You know you’re not going to leave that filming day looking cool, so you just have to embrace it.”
“Taking your clothes off on the side of a cliff in a hurry is not safe either,” Powell continued. “Nobody talks about that safety issue on set, where I almost died falling off a cliff taking my pants off too fast. But it’s a really fun scene, so it was all worth it.”
Sweeney also dealt with her own risky situation after she was bit by her arachnid co-star.
“There’s the spider itself, which actually bit me, and that was a whole thing,” Sweeney recalled. “And then we have the part of Glen bending over and me checking to see if there are more spiders.”
Sweeney said it took half a day to film the spider scene, adding, “I’m very acquainted with Glen now.”
“Anyone but You” follows archnemeses Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell), who unexpectedly reunite at a destination wedding in Australia and, for personal reasons, decide to pose as the perfect couple.
“I made a couple of movies in Australia before and I love it. It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth,” director-writer Will Gluck said of the rom-com’s location. “You’re rarely allowed to shoot Australia for Australia, because you’re always trying to make it look like someplace else. I had to make it look like England for two movies, and I said, why don’t we just shoot Australia for Australia, and show the beauty and the [Sydney] Opera House and the oceans.”
In terms of casting, Gluck said the addition of Powell made for a few more shirtless scenes than initially planned.
“Once we saw how much he was committed — you know, he always wanted to take his shirt off,” Gluck said. “I was like, ‘Glen, there’s no need for you to take your shirt off in this scene, we’re having dinner.’ Shirt came off.”
Additional stars and creative team members in attendance included Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, Alexandra Shipp, Michelle Hurd, GaTa, Joe Davidson, Charlee Fraser and writer Ilana Wolpert. The premiere also included “Anyone but You” beanies, cookies in the shape of Powell and Sweeney’s faces and red and green T-shirts boasting either #TeamSydney or #TeamGlen.
“Anyone but You” hits theaters Dec. 22.
