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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Shahana Yasmin

Glen Powell ups the stakes in latest celebrity lookalike contest — but there’s a catch

Glen Powell has offered the winner of his lookalike contest the chance to select a beloved family to make a cameo in one of his forthcoming films.

After the success of the Timothee Chalamet, Paul Mescal, Harry Styles, Dev Patel, Zayn Malik, and Zendaya look alike contests, the Glen Powell lookalike contest took place in the actor’s hometown of Austin, Texas.

Hundreds gathered at Auditorium Shores in Town Lake Park on Sunday (24 November) to be selected by special judges – Powell’s mother and aunt – and win bragging rights to the face that most resembles the Hit Man star.

Powell, who wasn’t able to make it to the contest in person due to filming obligations for Edgar Wright’s forthcoming remake of The Running Man in England, sent in a recorded video to the event with a message to all the participants.

Starting with a joke on how he resembles Justin Hartley and had assembled attendees so he could pull off a heist, Powell declared that he had a prize that had “a cash-value prize of $6bn”.

“Welcome to the Justin Hartley lookalike contest. In all seriousness I’ve assembled you here today at Auditorium Shores for an important mission. I want to pull off a heist. We don’t need masks because we all have the same face, it’s the perfect crime. They can’t get all of us because we are one. A criminal Glen-terprise,” said theTop Gun: Maverick actor.

“Also, I know it’s November, but if no one is shirtless for no reason, then this whole thing is a sham and, obviously, no one is committed to the bit.

“I know there is some cash and a hat at stake here, but I just wanted to say that the winner of today’s contest gets a personal prize from me. Now, you may know that my parents make a cameo in every movie I make, but today, the winner of the Glen Powell lookalike contest wins their parents or any family member of their choice a cameo in my next movie.

“I am completely serious. This is a cash-value prize of $6bn.

“Take a pic together for me, enjoy my favorite city in the world, keep Austin weird, hook ’em Horns and see ya around, every time I look in the mirror.”

The contest was won by Maxwell Braunstein, a physician’s assistant in Austin. He took home “a whopping $5, a cowboy hat, free queso from Torchy’s for a year, and a thumbs up from the real Glen Powell’s mom,” according to Fox 7.

“My face hasn’t hurt like this since I was ten and at Disney World,” said Braunstein. “I did tell people I was going to win. I did mention that to my friends that sent it to me.”

The first lookalike contest took place last month, when YouTuber Anthony Po decided to host a Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest in the Washington Square Park in New York. With more than 2,000 attendees, the contest had to be moved to Mercer Park after law enforcement intervened and dispersed the gathering.

Fans were sent into a frenzy when the real Timothee Chalamet unexpectedly showed up. The Call Me By Your Name star walked up to a few of the contestants to take a photo, causing the entire crowd to erupt into excited shrieks.

Lauren Bulla described attending a Paul Mescal lookalike contest forThe Independent, writing: “I was under the impression that part of the intrigue which seemingly draws attendees to these events is the hope of finding a celebrity lookalike boyfriend. If you can’t have the real thing, maybe your city’s closest match is the way to go. And so, filled with trepidation (and a healthy dose of scepticism), I went along to the Howl at the Moon pub in Hoxton to find out...”

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