In ‘Chad Powers,’ Glen Powell plays Georgia football: fake college edition
In the new Hulu comedy “Chad Powers,” the fictional South Georgia Catfish football team holds an open tryout after losing both its quarterbacks.
In the meantime, bitter and disgraced former college star Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) is unemployed and helping his dad, a special effects makeup artist in Hollywood, deliver masks.
Spying a “Mrs. Doubtfire” billboard, Russ has a light bulb moment: Drive his Tesla Cybertruck to Georgia and try out for South Georgia in disguise using prosthetics and pretending to be a West Virginia rube.
By happenstance, Danny, the student playing the Catfish mascot (Frankie Rodriguez) decides to help Russ with his Chad Powers prosthetics while keeping his secret from everyone else.
“Seeing Glen in the full prosthetics with the teeth, whoa, this is kind of crazy,” Rodriguez said. “He throws in that voice and it adds a whole layer of brilliance.”
The concept sounds like it might be based on a real-life story. It was not. “Chad Powers” stems from a 2022 viral ESPN+ video where legendary NFL quarterback Eli Manning dressed up as a prosthetic-laden Chad Powers to do a walk-on tryout at Penn State.
Eli and his brother Peyton Manning helped turn the skit into a series. They were also hands-on executive producers.
“I got coaching from them on throwing and how I was navigating the backfield and where my eyes were,” said Powell, whose star has risen after winning plaudits for roles in “Twisters,” “Anyone But You” and “Hit Man.”
Over six episodes, the Catfish ― a winking team name nod to the “catfishing” Russ Holliday is doing ― play three real SEC teams: the University of Mississippi Rebels, the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
And when Chad wins a few games, he gets interviewed by ESPN.
“We used Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler,” two ESPN stalwarts, Powell said.
Tonally, he added, “it’s really believable even with this completely absurd storyline.”
“Chad Powers” was filmed in metro Atlanta and uses Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium (formerly Turner Field) as its home base. Producers also shot a scene at Sanford Stadium in Athens during an actual UGA football game last fall, telling the crowd to boo Powers lustily. That moment shows up in the opening minutes of the first episode.
“That Georgia State field was pretty magical,” Powell said. “I’m really proud of the football on the show. We had Eli and Peyton put together the best of the best. So all the action feels legit. I’m sure most people in Atlanta who are true college football fans will be able to tell the difference.”
The first few episodes ride heavily on the fact the other characters don’t realize that Chad Powers looks suspiciously like a bumpkin cousin of Russ Holliday. That includes Coach Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn) and his daughter Ricky (Perry Mattfeld), who even runs into Holliday and doesn’t make an immediate connection.
Zahn (“White Lotus,” “That Thing You Do”) said his likable coach character doesn’t ask a lot of questions about Chad. “I just think he is an odd duck,” he said. “I don’t care as long as he shows up and wins. It’s really fascinating. The audience knows more than my character. It takes a lot of pressure off me. I can sit back and be a lot more subtle.”
Mattfeld, who plays a potential love interest to Powers, watched Powell set the tone as the ultimate multitasker. “He not only had to play football but was preparing for this other movie ‘The Running Man’ while writing and producing for the show … He’s been such a generous, hardworking, incredible leader.”
Her character was a track star who missed out on the Olympics, so she understands Chad’s desire to succeed even later in life. “They develop this mutually beneficial friendship,” he said. “They both have scorned pasts and are looking for someone to believe in them.”
The series also features two regulars who grew up in Atlanta: Quentin Plair, who plays a coach, and Wynn Everett, a chipper Catfish booster who constantly inserts herself into the team’s business.
“I called a friend of mine who works with the boosters at the University of Georgia,” Everett said. “He gave me a rundown on what that life is like. It’s fascinating.”
The end of Season 1, Mattfeld said, sets the show up nicely for more seasons if enough people watch.
“It’s this little skit turned into this big world,” she said. “We’ve barely scratched the surface. There’s so much more to get into.”
If You Watch
“Chad Powers,” available on Hulu
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
