Jonathan Majors And Glen Powell Talk ‘Devotion,’ Bringing A Hero To Life And Back Home

Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell headlining the biographical war drama Devotion is perfect timing that has been years in the making. Like the subjects of the movie, this is a bond of brothers.

“It also feels like when you play a sport, or you’re in school, and you’re on the playground, you look over, you see a guy or girl, and they become your best friend,” Majors explained. “It’s like, ‘There’s a spark in you that means you complete me. You’re my man. You’re my best friend.’ The moment I saw Glen, my tail was wagging.”

Unfolding during the Korean War, Devotion tells the story of Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy history, and his friendship with fellow fighter pilot Tom Hudner. However, a final chapter in the story has yet to be written, and Majors and Powell hope this film will help bring that conclusion.

I caught up with the pair to discuss the inspirational true story, how it became a personal mission, and why they feel they complete each other.

Simon Thompson: You are both having a phenomenal time right now. You guys working on this together, releasing it this year when you are flying in your careers; this is lightning-in-a-bottle-type career stuff.

Jonathan Majors: Wow.

Glen Powell: Thank you. That’s emotional coffee.

Thompson: Did you feel it?

Powell: I’ll tell you one thing I thought about the other day that I feel very satisfied in. When I first met Jonathan, I’d seen him in the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and I was like, ‘Who is this guy? He’s unbelievable.’ The world did not know about Jonathan yet, or at least I felt like that. Then you had different projects started to come out, and people started talking. The fun part is that I was getting him on Devotion early after that movie. I felt like I was in on this secret, this amazing treasure trove of talent, and I was going to get to have Jonathan in this movie as Jesse Brown. The fact that the world is now obsessed with Jonathan Majors and is now seeing what he can do and what he can bring to all these different roles and worlds for me as his co-star, friend, and brother, I feel so proud of that journey. Getting to watch that from this vantage point has been special. To watch someone that really deserves success, get it, is amazing and it will continue. This does feel like lightning-in-a-bottle because we’re both at a place in our careers. It’s a special time. We’ve had a chance to talk about it, and we both feel very lucky and grateful about where we are and are committed to keeping the party going.

Majors: It also feels like when you play a sport, or you’re in school, and you’re on the playground, you look over, you see a guy or girl, and they become your best friend. You never knew that these kids would grow up to be the double play in the NBA; they just really liked each other. It’s like, ‘There’s a spark in you that means you complete me. You’re my man. You’re my best friend.’ The moment I saw Glen, my tail was wagging. I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun, but I don’t know why.’ I feel like what Glen and I are doing is, over time, breaking all the stone. The Michelangelo was already there. Our bond, and not just because of the film, but it does manifest in the movie, has always been. Jesse and Tom, and us blessed enough to be the avatars of these individuals, is a byproduct of two kids dreaming, playing hard on the playground, and who don’t even notice the sun has gone down. I found another partner in Glen who would run with me until the streetlights came on.

Thompson: I do love the idea of you turning to each other and saying, ‘You complete me,’ by the way.

Powell: (Laughs)

Thompson: That said, when you have this natural bond and love for each other, does that make it harder to counter that in your performances?

Powell: There was a wonderful conversation Jonathan and I had in the sauna before we started the movie. We talked about doing whatever it takes to get what needs to be captured on the screen. It was all in service, every step, to do these men right, to do the story right, and to do anyone who served in the Korean War right. There’s a legacy here that was greater than us. I always said, ‘Hey, I’m not offended. As long as we are on the same page and have the same end goal, this is an ecosystem of play and experimentation, and if we tear each other apart, we put each other back together.’ One thing that was really helpful to have is a friend and co-star who is a guy willing to do whatever it takes. A film set can be a complicated place, especially when you have something like this. You’re trying to find gears and depth and all these different things that are needed, to be able to look someone in the eyes, and it’s always about performance and capturing that lightning in the bottle.

Majors: We killed the ego. As artists, we need enough to survive but once you’ve accomplished getting the job and someone says, ‘Okay, here’s the mission,’ that ego has to go away immediately. However, on a film set, especially ours, we have one leading lady, a beautiful presence that comes in and calms all that high testosterone, so if we get caught up in that, we’re done for. The beautiful thing about the process that we shared is, and I don’t know how jarring it was for Glen, that I have a very specific process, and I knew the guy he met in the sauna was not showing up on set. It’s going to be very, very reserved and keeps to himself, he’ll put him at a distance, and you’re not going to get the charming guy. I didn’t hang out. We didn’t talk much. We did develop our artistic language of getting to know each other, but Jesse and Tom had not met yet. When I came to set, I did see Tom, and Tom was smiley, fun, and lovable, but I had a responsibility to Jesse, so I was very distant. I did think, ‘God, I hope this guy who I really want to be friends with when it is over doesn’t hate me for this.’ Our devotion to the craft required us to do this. As Glen said, we had that manifesto of ‘By any means necessary, whatever it takes, with respect and human kindness, let’s get it.’

Thompson: Jonathan, you have incredibly powerful scenes where, as Jesse, you recite the insults and racist comments he has endured in his life.

Majors: My acting is an approach where one of the tenets is to do as little acting as possible. On that particular day, I knew it was a ritual. What had to happen there was ceremonial; it’s something dramaturgical, and he really did that. That’s a fact. Jesse did that. His family speaks about it, his mother witnessed it, and it’s something he’d done since he was a boy. I remember the first time we did it in its totality, from beginning to end. I have a very particular way I like to work, I’m not going to apologize for it, and it is to bring the dream onto the set, so I need to feel it, and therefore the crew and the audience will too, because of the potency of the work. What was written isn’t in the film. What is in there is essentially improvisation. I knew what the ritual was. We respectfully rehearsed it with J.D. with no cameras running, and I did it perfectly as it was written, without disrespect. I was like, ‘I’ve done your work. I did my homework. I’m a good student, and I do what I’m supposed to do,’ but it had to be my pain and Jesse’s pain that would ignite a universality of understanding and trauma. It transcends, but it includes being a little black boy from Mississippi or Texas, born in the mud, trying to make it to the sky, trying to make it in this world where there was a cracking open, and there was a staying open. The other thing is that scene happens again, but that is not played all the way out because Tom interrupts it. My body knows where I’m about to go, and it’s preparing to go there, so I owed it to Jesse, in that moment, to take it there. Honestly, that’s also the same thing that made me want to do the film. That scene completely uncovers the secret to Jesse and shines a light on the process that we go through to withstand and to be strong enough to continue to do what we’ve set our hearts, minds, and dreams on doing.

Thompson: Devotion is finished, but the story is not over because Jesse’s body isn’t back home. Going into this, did you think this film could be a catalyst in potentially changing that?

Powell: Absolutely. I remember going to Tom Hudner’s funeral in Arlington. The Brown family was there and talking with the Hudners. I had understood conceptually that Jesse wasn’t home, but I don’t think I felt it until I spent time with the two families. Their loved one, this man who had such an indelible mark on all of them, was still over there. From that moment on, especially with the Smith family, there was a huge effort to bring Jesse home. The hope was to do that even before we started the movie, but typhoon season in North Korea derailed those efforts. Day by day, Fred Smith, Molly Smith, and Rachel Smith are working to bring Jesse home. I hope this film ignites efforts politically and with anybody who can do it to ensure that effort happens. That’s what movies are about, in my opinion. It’s the ability to bring awareness and change and, in this case, completion for this family.

Majors: What we do, what you do, what anyone who communicates with society at large, if you want something to change, you know, let Jay-Z rap about it or let Drake put in a song. We are the sort of democracy where if you want to put a spotlight on something, make something for the people, for the proletariat, to view and witness, and that will get their attention. There was the book, but many people still need to learn the story of Tom and Jesse. We will add to the dissemination of that knowledge via the film. That’s going to touch people, here on American soil and abroad, and that will be the sticking point. That’s where we hold a mirror up and say, ‘Okay, you’ve been entertained, moved, and learned something. What are we going to do?’ Hopefully, it is the thing that puts boots on the ground, and we can go get my hero.

Devotion lands in theaters on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.