Glen Powell nearly became a member of New Directions.
The Twisters star has revealed that he auditioned for the role of Sam Evans on Fox’s hit musical dramedy Glee along with his close pal Chord Overstreet. But the part, of course, went to Overstreet.
“One of my best buddies in the world is Chord Overstreet,” Powell said on the latest episode of the Therapuss podcast. “We both auditioned for Glee. We both auditioned for the same role. We were in the waiting room at the same time because we were buddies.”
The two met in an acting class and had been chums “for a really long time” up until that point.
“And then we were down to the wire on Sam Evans, and he got it,” Powell recalled. The two remained close, and Powell added that he had no animosity after losing the gig to Overstreet, saying, “He’s still one of my best friends.”
Powell even had a front-row seat as Overstreet’s star rose — because they ended up living together.
“We were about to be roommates,” Powell said. “So we moved in together as he went on this crazy Glee ride, which was kind of wild — to be one of [his] best friends in the world, to watch him go through that thing.”
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“It was crazy to be around because it was the biggest show in the world,” Powell said.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, Glee followed an eclectic group of ambitious high school singers coached by passionate and optimistic teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). The Emmy-winning series, which ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, made young stars Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Chris Colfer, and Darren Criss household names. Overstreet joined the show in season 2 and stuck around through the final season.
Though he didn’t get the role of Sam, Powell would go on to join the Murphy-Falchuck-Brennan universe playing Chad Radwell on the 2015 horror comedy Scream Queens, in which he starred opposite Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Billie Lourd.
He is set to return to TV in Hulu’s upcoming sports comedy Chad Powers, premiering Sept. 30.
Watch Powell’s full interview with Therapuss above.
