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Glen Powell's Real-Life Childhood Tornado Encounter Made It into Twisters

Powell plays charismatic and reckless storm chaser Tyler Owens — and told Seth Meyers he worked a real-life story into one of the movie's scenes.

Jul 22, 2024, Updated 11:43 AM ET

In the new summer action movie Twisters, Glen Powell plays charismatic and reckless storm chaser Tyler Owens. And as it turns out, the actor pulled inspiration for his character from a close encounter with an actual tornado that happened when he was a kid.

On July 18, Powell made his debut appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk all things Twisters. While his co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones grew up in England, she never experienced a real-life tornado, but since Powell is from Texas, he could draw inspiration from seeing one when he was a kid, as he explained to Seth Meyers.

Glen Powell's real-life Twisters tale

"When I was nine years old, there was a big F5 tornado that came through Jarrell, Texas," the Hit Man actor told Meyers. "So we were on my way to my aunt's ranch, and I was caught... pretty close to the tornado with my aunt driving, car full of cousins."

"We made it out. We were totally fine. But actually, there's a bit in a rodeo scene that ends up making it in [Twisters], where I kind of talk about that event," Powell added.

When the Late Night Host asked Powell whether he was scared or thrilled by the tornado experience, he answered: "I think that's literally what we were kind of talking about, is you're first kind of fascinated. And then when you see an adult scared, you kind of are like, 'Oh, maybe I should be scared.'"

"But that's kind of the beauty of Twisters, it's kind of a mix of fascination of this beauty, but also terror," he added.

Glen Powell smiles at Seth Meyers during an interview

Glen Powell during an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Episode 1543. Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC

Sounds like the movie's director Lee Isaac Chung (known for the Oscar-nominated Minari) shared Powell's attraction to the terrifying tornadoes.

"I kept wondering: what would it be like to make a film in which I'm just focusing on that sort of spectacle, and that sort of awe, and that kind of powerful force," Chung said in an interview with Total Film. "[Tornadoes] have the same sort of force that a fire does. It can really reveal people, their inner journeys, their relationships ... So I was really interested in exploring that with this movie."