The forecast read sunny with a chance of Glen at Auditorium Shores by Lady Bird Lake on Nov. 24, when Austinites searched for the best Glen Powell look-alike in the city. Nearly 20 “Glens” participated and hundreds of Austinites watched, with the winning stakes a cowboy hat, free Torchy’s queso for a year and city admiration.
Over the past month, celebrity look-alike contests have taken the world by storm, during which locals battle for the public’s recognition as the doppelgängers of Hollywood’s favorite men. The contests started with a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in New York City and have since spread to cities like Chicago, San Francisco and London. The phenomenon reached Austin last week when a friend group decided to honor former Longhorn, Austin’s resident “It Guy” and star of blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Anyone But You” and “Twisters”: Glen Powell.
“We’ve seen look-alike competitions (popping) up in every single city. So why not Austin?
We’re a city known for fun, funky (and) fresh community events,” said Kate Carpenter, a UT education graduate student who planned the contest with her boyfriend, Henry Long. “We thought we’d … (bring) the community together, (celebrate) Austin culture and Austin’s biggest celebrity of 2024.”
Crowds formed around 1 p.m., and the “Glen-vengers” assembled: a collection of primarily tall, blonde men with pearly-white smiles, cowboy hats and the occasional pooch (as a reference to Powell’s beloved rescue dog, Brisket). First, each contestant revealed himself to the crowd by standing on an apple crate, which some used to throw up a “Hook ‘em Horns” or take off his shirt. Next, each contestant gave a 15-second speech about why he should win, with reasons ranging from high vegetable consumption to achieving acting success to finding love.
“I can win today or not, but I’m really just here to find my Sydney Sweeney,” a contestant said.
After considering the crowd’s reactions, the judges, including Glen Powell’s mother, Cyndy Powell, named Max Braunstein, a physician’s assistant with an uncanny resemblance to Powell, the winner. Carpenter, while mcing through a megaphone, asked Braunstein how he felt about winning.
“Pretty damn good,” Braunstein said. Braunstein said people told him he looked like Powell since the actor’s 2015 “Scream Queens” role. When first announced, nine different people told him to enter the look-alike contest. Braunstein arrived at the contest in a borrowed, “Top Gun”-esque flight suit, cowboy boots and high energy — ready to prove his profitable resemblance to Powell.
“The only way I’m ever going to have a cowboy hat is going to be winning this contest,” Braunstein said after signing up at a table labeled “Glens gather here.”
Needless to say, Braunstein got his first cowboy hat. In addition to the main prizes, he also received an honorary FaceTime call with the real Powell, a cameo in one of Powell’s upcoming films and a mob of girls begging for photos with him.
“With everything going on in America, … these look-alike contests and this one in Austin just give people a chance to come together and rally around something simple, cute and fun,” said Long. “The whole experience has been Glen-credible.”
