Glee ended 10 years ago, but there’s still lots of lore to unpack from the chaotic, camp-filled musical series. The latest behind-the-scenes reveal comes from Glen Powell, who recently opened up about auditioning for the show as a young actor.
During a Sept. 24 appearance on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast, Powell shared that he and Chord Overstreet — who are “best buddies” to this day — both went out for the role of Sam Evans ahead of Glee Season 2.
The pair first met in acting class and grew close as friends. “And then we were down to the wire on Sam Evans, and he got it,” Powell said. And Glee history was made. (As Powell pointed out, “It wasn’t Trouty Mouth at the time, right? It turned into Trouty Mouth with Chord.”)
Fortunately, the job didn’t affect their friendship. The actors actually moved in together as Overstreet was going on the “crazy Glee ride,” Powell said, adding that it was “wild” to see one of his “best friends in the world” step into such a massive spotlight. “Because it was also, like, the biggest show in the world. I don’t think a lot of people remember that.”
Powell, who next stars in Hulu’s Chad Powers, also showed his support by attending the live Glee tour where his pal performed Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars’ “Billionaire.” The song was Sam’s audition in Glee, and was part of the IRL audition for the show, too, Powell said. (Release the tape!)
Even at the time, Powell was clear-headed about his path in Hollywood. “I feel like I’ve always had a long-term perspective about these things,” he said, crediting his dad’s “incredibly zen” approach to life’s ups and downs. “I’ve never been competitive with other people. I’ve been competitive with myself,” he said.
While Powell didn’t land a job on Glee, he did go on to collaborate with Ryan Murphy — both on Scream Queens and, more recently, Broadway, as Powell revealed in 2023 that they’re working on a stage musical together.
The Glee That Could Have Been
Of course, Powell isn’t the only big-name star who once auditioned for Glee. Aaron Tveit once went out for the part of Finn Hudson, for example. As he later told Corduroy Magazine, “I didn’t want to be pigeon-holed as a ‘teen actor.’”
Nina Dobrev and Lili Reinhart also auditioned for Glee, and Lizzo tried to join the show by way of The Glee Project.
