Glen Powell recalled having a wild night out in Nashville with country music royalty while preparing for his role in the upcoming movie, “The Comeback King.”
In the Judd Apatow-directed comedy, the 37-year-old actor plays Aubrey King, a disgraced country star who attempts to rebuild his life and career after experiencing a dramatic downfall.
During a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmer Live,” which was guest-hosted by Jelly Roll, Powell, who co-wrote the script with Apatow, explained how he collaborated with real-life country musicians and set out to fully immerse himself in Music City’s culture to make the project feel authentic.
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“I’ve been a fan of country music my whole life, and I wanted to make sure that we did this right,” Powell told Jelly Roll. “We made it not about country music. We wanted to make it with country music.
“And one of the things I did as we were, like, writing, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to get the full experience of writing with Nashville,'” he remembered.
Powell recalled that he decided to team up with country singer-songwriter Hardy for a daytime writing session.
“Did y’all write, or did y’all go out drinking?” Jelly Roll joked.
“We first wrote, then we drank,” Powell replied. “So, we wrote this great song. I was really excited about it. And then he’s like, ‘Hey man, we should go out and really hit the town.'”
Powell said he and Hardy joined his “buddies,” country duo Dan + Shay, for an outing in Lower Broadway, Nashville’s iconic entertainment district known for its packed honky-tonks and live country music.
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“All of a sudden, like, one bar turned to 12,” Powell recalled.
“Oh, you went honky-tonk,” Jelly Roll quipped.
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Powell remembered that, 12 stops later, the group finally landed at Jelly Roll’s Broadway establishment Goodnight in the early morning hours.
“We ended up playing beer pong there, I think, at like 3 in the morning,” Powell admitted.
“Let’s go!” Jelly Roll exclaimed. “You strike me as a great beer pong player. How’d you fair?”
Powell said that while he considers himself a “pretty good” player, he proved no match for Hardy.
“Hardy smoked me,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you.”
“Hardy’s an absolute rager,” Jelly Roll agreed.
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“Do you recall the first time you ever played beer pong?” the “Save Me” hitmaker asked Powell.
“First time I ever played beer pong? Oh, wow. That’s a good question. Do you remember yours?” Powell asked.
“Well, I went to prison instead of college, so I missed the entire beer pong era, you know,” Jelly Roll, who has been open about his past incarcerations quipped.
“You know, I missed out on the whole prison beer pong experience, but that one’s not on my bucket list,” Powell joked as the audience laughed.
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Jelly Roll was among the country stars, including Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley and Riley Green, who made cameos in “The Comeback King.”
During his appearance on the late-night show, Powell recalled how “The Comeback King” marks the first time he has ever sung on screen. The “Top Gun: Maverick” star credited his voice coach, Eric Vitro; his experience singing with his mother in nursing homes; and his sister Leslie for guiding him through the vocal preparation.
Powell noted that Leslie, an accomplished singer-songwriter, “wrote a lot of music” for the movie. Leslie previously contributed music to some of Powell’s other projects, including “Anyone But You,” “Twisters” and “Set It Up.”
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The actor admitted performing his songs live on set in front of Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert and Brad Paisley was “the most terrifying experience” of his life. However, Jelly Roll praised Powell’s performance, noting that he did not know what to expect before hearing Powell sing for the first time.
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“And then this dude started belting. Y’all, it’s like he’s been singing his whole life,” Jelly Roll said. “It was unbelievable.”
“The Comeback King” is scheduled to be released in theaters Feb. 5, 2027.
