Glen Powell was born to parents Glen Sr. and Cyndy Powell in Austin, Texas, where he grew up. He has two sisters — an older one, Lauren and a younger one, Leslie. Powell attended the University of Texas at Austin where he majored in Radio, Television and Film.

Early on, he performed in professional theatre with roles like The Music Man, Oliver, O. Henry and The Sound of Music. Television credits for the actor include Into the West, Jack & Bobby, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace Rizzoli & Isles and The Lying Game.

He appeared in early feature films The Great Debaters, The Hottest State, Fast Food Nation, Jumping Off Bridges, The Safe Side, The Wendell Baker Story, and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. Glen landed a role in The Great Debaters, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, in 2007 before his first year of college.

After he moved to Los Angeles, he appeared in feature films such as The Hottest State, Fast Food Nation, Jumping Off Bridges, The Safe Side, The Wendell Baker Story and The Dark Knight Rises. His role of Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin in Top Gun: Maverick served as his big break in the industry, though before that he had held credits like John Glenn in Hidden Figures, Mark Reynolds in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Charlie in Set It Up.

Before his starring role in Top Gun: Maverick, Powell booked Devotion, another film about pilots and planes that was released in November 2022. He starred in Richard Linklater's Hit Man on Netflix, which the streamer bought for $20 million, playing a man of many faces. Other big titles include the rom-com Anyone But You alongside Sydney Sweeney from Sony and the upcoming Twisters sequel. He also played titular quarterback in Hulu's Chad Powers.

Powell also produced Devotion (2022), Hit Man (2024) and The Blue Angles (2024), a documentary about veterans and current members of the Navy and Marine Corps flight squadrons, which follows them through training and more. His Stephen King feature adaptation The Running Man directed by Edgar Wright is now in theaters.

Upcoming projects for the actor include A24's revenge thriller Huntington, which will also star Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris, and the John Lee Hancock Monsanto film which sold out of Cannes and will feature Anthony Mackie and Laura Dern. Powell will play attorney Brent Wisner, who takes on the case against the notorious chemical company that affected the lives of millions with pesticide killer Roundup.