Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s on-set action apparently got a bit of “presidential approval” from an unlikely onlooker while working on their new film.
The pair’s onscreen rapport in the upcoming rom-com “Anyone But You” has already spawned rabid enthusiasm on social media but was spotted first-hand in Australia by none other than former President Barack Obama — who just happened to be on set one day.
“I’m dressed in a tuxedo. I get to jump out of a helicopter and run up to the girl and confess my love for her,” Powell told ET on Monday about filming a pivotal scene. “Barack Obama is also watching us shoot that entire scene. So it was just loaded.”
Sweeney told the outlet about their baffling encounter, “Barack Obama happened to be at Sydney Opera House the exact same time we were filming that. Well, there was also a lot of security. We were like, ‘Wow, did they bring all of this for us?’”
The film follows two people who pretend to be a couple after unknowingly arriving in Australia for the same destination wedding. Its production was rife with rumors that Sweeney and Powell had romantically bonded in real life, which both have since denied.
Adding even more fuel to the rumor mill, Sweeney, who is producing the film, apparently handpicked Powell for the role.
Sweeney told ET that she saw Powell in “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) and thought “he was really, really good in it.” She was also smitten by “his timing” in handing her an MTV Movie & TV Award for “Euphoria” and “hit it off” with Powell before casting him.
“So to do that scene at the Sydney Opera House, it was like presidential approval,” Powell told ET. “It felt like paparazzi, no, it’s presidential detail that was hovering above the Sydney Opera House while we’re shooting that scene.”
Their playful banter was noted at CinemaCon this year and fueled further speculation that they were dating. Sweeney eventually denied as much and cheekily admitted that she and Powell “don’t really care” and think the rumors are “really funny.”
Powell seemingly echoed that when asked if their onscreen chemistry came naturally.
“We really have the best time together, and that’s what rom-coms are about,” he told ET on Monday. “When you have to strip down naked on the side of a cliff and act like a spider’s coming outta you, there’s no better person to go into the trenches with.”
“Anyone But You” hits theaters Dec. 22.