Hollywood liberals relish lecturing Middle America about how to live, how to think, and how to vote.
Plenty of fans got sick of being preached at by millionaires.
But one Top Gun: Maverick star just admitted something most of his Tinseltown neighbors would never say out loud.
Glen Powell Wants No Part of Hollywood’s Favorite Pastime
Glen Powell has put together the kind of run most actors only dream about. Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters, and The Running Man all carry his name on the poster.
He also created the streaming football comedy Chad Powers alongside Michael Waldron, and the show turned into a genuine hit.
So when Powell sat down with Esquire magazine, the conversation drifted toward politics. Powell wasn’t biting.
According to Esquire, his parents never cared much about politics, and Powell cares even less these days. He gave a simple reason.
“Over time, I realized that politics divide people,” Powell told the magazine.
He kept going. Powell described political arguments as “the worst version of a conversation” and added, “I genuinely do not like the discourse.”
“It’s not as healthy as it once was,” Powell said, before adding that talking politics “is not presently possible.”
But Powell also made a point of not looking down his nose at folks who jump into the fight. “I applaud people for jumping into those things and fighting for what they believe in. If I were a political person, I would be talking about it. For me, my calling is elsewhere.”
That’s a refreshingly humble answer from a guy whose face sits on billboards from coast to coast.
And it’s one plenty of his peers could stand to hear.
The Rock Found Out What Happens When You Pick a Side
Powell didn’t stumble onto this idea by accident. Hollywood has watched a few of its biggest names discover what happens when they treat half their audience like the enemy.
Dwayne Johnson is Exhibit A.
Johnson spent years telling fans he leaned toward the center. Then he endorsed Joe Biden in 2020. And the backlash hit hard, with plenty of fans who bought the centrist pitch apparently feeling played.
When the Democrat Party dumped Biden and crowned Kamala Harris as its nominee in 2024, Johnson wanted no part of it.
“My goal is to bring this country together. I believe in that. There will be no endorsement. At this level of influence, I will keep my politics to myself. It is between me and the ballot box,” Johnson said.
By July 2026, he sounded like a man who had made his peace with staying on the sidelines for good.
“I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself. . . . Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever. I don’t like it. I hate it at times. I hate the slinging,” Johnson said.
Coming from a former pro wrestler who made a fortune trash-talking in the ring, that last line has a certain charm to it.
Jennifer Lawrence Pulled the Most Surprising U-Turn of All
Jennifer Lawrence makes for an even stranger convert.
The Hunger Games star built a reputation for taking shots at Republicans and Donald Trump. Breitbart called her past attacks vitriolic, and conservatives who remember her rants probably wouldn’t quibble with the word.
But in November 2025, Lawrence changed her tune.
“So, then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart. We are so divided,” Lawrence said.
Quite a turnaround. And it raises an obvious question about how many celebrities privately reached the same conclusion years ago but never worked up the nerve to say it.
Josh Duhamel has said actors should avoid ticking off half their audience by talking politics. Kevin James took a humbler route, saying he leaves politics to people who know more about the issues than he does.
Flyover Country Saw This Coming a Long Time Ago
Here’s the thing Hollywood took far too long to figure out.
Ordinary Americans don’t buy a movie ticket to sit through a sermon. A retired machinist in Tennessee who loved the original Top Gun doesn’t want the star of the sequel calling him a bigot on social media. He wants two hours of fighter jets and a good story.
For the better part of a decade, the entertainment industry acted like it never got that memo. Awards shows turned into campaign rallies. Celebrities lined up to trash Donald Trump and the tens of millions of Americans who voted for him. The town treated conservative moviegoers like a nuisance instead of paying customers.
And the customers noticed.
Powell’s answer stands out because of what it leaves out. He doesn’t scold anybody. He doesn’t hint that fans who vote differently from him have something wrong with them. He simply admits the shouting match has gotten ugly and he’d rather spend his energy somewhere else.
Some on the Left will probably call that cowardice. Activists have a long habit of treating silence as a sin, as if every actor owes the public a hot take on every hot-button fight.
But Powell may have it exactly right. An actor’s job is to entertain people, and nobody handed Glen Powell a ballot to cast on anyone else’s behalf.
Now, a skeptic might wonder whether these conversions come from the heart or from the accountant’s office. Lawrence and Johnson both pulled back after the reaction got loud, and that timing is worth noting.
Then again, maybe the motive doesn’t matter much. A celebrity who keeps quiet to protect the box office still beats one who keeps insulting half the country out of principle.
Will the trend stick? Hard to say. The pressure inside Hollywood to signal the approved opinions hasn’t gone anywhere, and one heated election season could send a dozen stars racing back to their keyboards.
But for now, a growing list of famous faces seem to have learned what folks in flyover country knew all along.
Nobody ever paid for a movie ticket to get lectured.
Sources: Breitbart, “‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Glen Powell Explains Why He Doesn’t Preach Politics: It Divides People,” Warner Todd Huston, October 7, 2026; Esquire magazine interview with Glen Powell, as cited by Breitbart.