Glen Powell knows that fans who witnessed his flirty behavior with ‘Anyone But You’ co-star Sydney Sweeney last year suspected they were having an affair. However, that’s precisely what he and Sweeney, who also served as one of the film’s executive producers, intended.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Powell revealed that the two actors consciously dialed up their chemistry to promote the hit 2023 rom-com. ‘The two things that you have to sell a rom-com are fun and chemistry,’ Powell explained. ‘Sydney and I have a lot of fun together, and we have a lot of effortless chemistry.’
Their off-screen chemistry fueled online gossip, further fueled by rumors of Powell’s split from his girlfriend, model Gigi Paris. Sweeney, who is engaged to Jonathan Davino, shared that she was deeply involved in every aspect of the rom-com’s marketing strategy.
‘Anyone But You,’ based on Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ follows Bea (Sweeney), a prospective lawyer, and Ben (Powell), a former Goldman Sachs employee, who pretend to be a couple at a destination wedding in Australia despite their disastrous first date.
Sweeney playfully addressed the affair rumors during her ‘Saturday Night Live’ debut in March. She joked that her fiancé, who also produced ‘Anyone But You,’ was ‘there for the entire shoot’ and was even sitting in the ‘SNL’ audience that night. However, when the camera cut to show Davino, it instead captured a grinning Powell. Powell later reappeared in the show’s final sketch, portraying a boss having an affair with his employee, played by Sweeney.
The deliberate flirting and affair rumors raised the film’s profile and generated immense online buzz. Powell and Sweeney’s marketing strategy proved highly effective, contributing to the success of ‘Anyone But You.’
