Hollywood star Glen Powell has left Hollywood to permanently return to Texas, his original home state. The thirty five year-old actor had previously lived in Los Angeles, but has recently switched his domicile to Austin to pursue a degree at the UT (the University of Texas) and to be closer to his family.
He recently opened up to the Hollywood Reporter about the reasons for his decisions. In the interview, Powell revealed that his decision to return was inspired, in no small part, by advice he received from Matthew McConaughey, a fellow Texan. McConaughey, he said, described Hollywood as being like The Matrix: a fake world you plug into that swallows your reality. The superstar described returning to Austin like unplugging from the Matrix. Back in reality, one can be in normal human relationships with friends and family where one’s actions matter, and life has real meaning.
If you live in the Matrix, McConaughey said, you can’t separate your public image and career politics from your private life. As children in his life grew up, and his parents aged, he found himself more and more wanting a separate private space for the things that really matter.
McConaughey lives in Uvalde, Texas. He moved there from Malibu for the benefit of his wife and children back in 2014.
Powell himself originally moved from Austin to LA to pursue his Hollywood dreams as a child actor. He made his debut in “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over,” which released in 2003. Then, while he was still a high school senior, he landed a role in the 2007 Denzel Washington vehicle “The Great Debaters.”
Washington was impressed by Powell’s facility with acting, and introduced Powell to agent Ed Limato, who represents Washington. Powell said that he initially contacted Limato during his freshman year at UT Austin, and signed with him shortly thereafter.
But despite going from success to success, he found life in LA unsatisfying—he hopes that the move will return balance to his life.
