Glenn Howerton: Being famous from a TV show is a different kind of fame

Publish date: 2024-03-14

Most people know Glenn Howerton from playing an everyday psychopath on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That show has been going on for sixteen seasons, and they have no plans to quit either, which is sort of amazing. Even with the lowkey success and longevity of IASIP, it feels like Glenn Howerton isn’t really famous-famous. This GQ Hype cover is possibly the first time I’ve ever seen him on any magazine cover? And I don’t even recall seeing or reading a major magazine interview with him either. Anyway, Glenn is promoting BlackBerry, the true story of the rise and fall of the Canadian smartphone company BlackBerry. I remember when everyone had a BlackBerry about fifteen years ago. Good times. Anyway, Glenn plays BlackBerry’s co-CEO Jim Ballsille and Glenn is legitimately getting Oscar buzz for his performance. Some highlights from GQ Hype:

Shaving his head for BlackBerry: “I did not realize how much I identified with my full head of hair. Deep down, I think I always felt like a guy in his 20s, even though I’m in my mid-40s. When I shaved it, it just kinda liberated me. The illusion was gone. I was like, I am a man in his 40’s. A grown ass f–king man… I genuinely liked it… My wife did not feel the same way.”

He has a low tolerance for alcohol: “My alcohol tolerance is sh-t these days. I can do two max, and then I’m in bed.”

He doesn’t feel famous: “If I’m famous… It’s a select-group-of-people style of fame. I’m not like Tom Cruise. It’s not that everyone-knows-who-I-am type of fame. When people are big fans of a TV show, it means something different, because you’re literally in their house. It’s intimate. People say all the time, ‘Oh my God, my husband and I watch your show every night when we’re going to bed!’ Which could sound, offhanded, like, ‘your show puts us to sleep.’ But it’s a huge compliment to me. That is something Tom Cruise will never understand. He will always be a thousand times more famous than me—this is not a knock on him—it’s just different.”

Whether he ever contacts other random famous people for meetings: “I’ve done the ‘hey I’ve just seen this director’s movie and I loved it, can we get a meeting, but not for social purposes….I just think the world of Ryan Gosling. I think he’s fantastic. I think he’s a fan of the show, actually? I know he knows the show. So Ryan, if you’re reading this, let’s hang out, buddy.”

[From GQ Hype]

There are also some nice quotes from It’s Always Sunny’s Kaitlin Olson, where she says nice things about how Glenn is “friends with all of his ex-girlfriends, but not, like, suspiciously” and how hilarious he is in real life, and how much he cracks her up on the show. It’s interesting to see him go full-throttle into dramatic work and actually pull it off with Oscar buzz. I have expected him to come across like a douche in this piece, but he seems funny, grounded and normal. He’s right about what kind of fame he has too – he’s not Tom Cruise-famous, he’s “TV show famous.”

Cover courtesy of GQ, additional photo courtesy of Cover Images.

Blackberry Photocall as part of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Berlin, Germany. Featuring: Glenn Howerton Where: Berlin, Germany When: 18 Feb 2023 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWplbn94e8alnKemj528uLHRraanl5Katq%2Bzvp%2BYpqelqKynvs6mlpqXpKustLTOsJaiq4%2BWrKW1xZ%2Bcq52eqaystc2dlqiej5uurrGO