For Glen Powell, hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ is ‘the peak of the mountain’

Glen Powell reveals Tom Cruise’s tips for his ‘Running Man’ stunts

Glen Powell shares Tom Cruise’s advice and reveals the toughest stunts he did in “The Running Man.”

Glen Powell has had a taste of “Saturday Night Live” before. Now, he’s getting the full family dinner.

The same weekend his latest movie “The Running Man” hits theaters, Powell hosts “SNL” for the first time Nov. 15. A longtime fan of the show, it’s the kind of late-night wish Powell has been harboring since he was a kid.

“I’ve been wanting to do this like my whole life,” Powell tells USA TODAY. “There’s no stage I’ve dreamed about being on more than 30 Rock.

“It’s really an iconic rite of passage that I just can’t wait for.”

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He admits there are nerves involved: “It’s ‘SNL,’ it’s the craziest live format you can possibly imagine.” But that said, “pressure’s a privilege. It is truly the peak of the mountain for me.”

At least Powell has a little experience on the “SNL” stage. In a March 2024 episode hosted by his “Anyone But You” costar Sydney Sweeney, Powell appeared in her monologue for a gag riffing on the dating rumors between them. He also had a quick walk-on cameo for one of Sweeney’s sketches.

His first impression of the show? “You realize the last-minute nature of it,” Powell says. “For instance, I knew I was going to do a little bit in her monologue. What I wasn’t expecting is probably 10 minutes before they shot (that) sketch, they wanted me to do it. So they said, ‘Hey, do you want to be in this last sketch?’ I was like, ‘Wait, what am I doing?’ There was zero prep. I went out there, I read the cue cards. I just braved through it, but it was fun.

“In an era where everything is edited and curated, ‘SNL’ is one of the last great performance things where they build this (show) every week and you see like all the costumes and the makeup and people creating these characters out of nothing and the rehearsal that goes into it, and it’s all done in one week.”

“SNL” is one of many “amazing, pinch-me moments” he’s been enjoying recently. His star ascended rapidly the past few years with movies like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Hit Man” and “Twisters.” He’s had quite a 2025, too, starring in and producing the Hulu football comedy “Chad Powers” and going all over the world with “Running Man.”

Powell sees a lot of actors separate their professional and personal lives, but what he’s focused on this year is figuring out how to bring friends and family along for the ride.

“You’ll never see me happier than when I’m on a set. (But) when I have time off on the weekends, we’ll go disappear somewhere and come back,” Powell says. “So I’m really able to fill my life up with great experiences that are not just work-related and put my full heart into everything I do.

“I’m really happy, I’m really fulfilled. I get to bring my buddies to NASCAR and F1 and the World Series. It’s like, what could be better?”