Dermot Mulroney Helped Glen Powell Overcome One Rom-Com Fear Before Anyone But You
Dermot Mulroney is a rom-com pro. Fans of "My Best Friend's Wedding" can attest to that, though Mulroney also showed off his romantic comedy bona fides in "The Wedding Date" and "The Family Stone." In the upcoming "Anyone But You," Mulroney is graduating from heartthrob to father of the bride. He's more than happy, however, to pass the torch to Glen Powell.
The R-rated "Anyone But You," which stars Powell and Sydney Sweeney, is loosely based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." When one-time-flames Ben (Powell) and Bea (Sweeney) find themselves en route to the same wedding in Australia, they pretend to be together to serve their respective needs. Ben wants to make his ex jealous, and Bea wants her meddling family to stop trying to undo her recent breakup.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Powell revealed that Mulroney had dispensed some romantic comedy wisdom. "He said, 'Don't be ashamed of being a man in a rom-com,'" Powell recalled. "'To represent love in movies is the most beautiful thing you can take on.'" For the actor, who previously appeared in "Set It Up" and "Top Gun: Maverick," the advice "really made me think completely different about the experience."
My Best Friend's Wedding inspired Anyone But You
For his part, Glen Powell had nothing but nice things to say about his co-star's rom-com past. "'My Best Friend's Wedding' is kind of a real tonal comp to this movie," Powell continued in the same interview. "A lot of people after they watch our movie say it's a lot like 'My Best Friend's Wedding.'" The film stars Mulroney as Michael, the childhood best friend of Jules (Julia Roberts). When Michael announces he is marrying a 20-year-old named Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), Jules realizes she's in love with him and pulls out all the stops to sabotage his relationship.
Powell wasn't the only one to notice similarities between the two films. In a separate interview with PEOPLE, Sydney Sweeney revealed that she and "Anyone But You" director Will Gluck wanted "to bring back that nostalgia of an old rom-com." "My Best Friend's Wedding" became a major lodestar in that pursuit –- so much so that Sweeney organized a screening for the cast. "[It's] honestly one of the best of all time," she said.
That Mulroney starred in "My Best Friend's Wedding" was an added bonus. According to Powell, the screening marked his first time rewatching the film since it came out in 1997. "We're so lucky to have Dermot in this movie with us," Sweeney went on. "So we put [a screening] together, asked Dermot if he'd be okay with it. It was just, honestly, we were all bawling our eyes out when Dermot was just talking about his experience and his love for it."