It's Always Sunny's Glenn Howerton Flexes His Acting Chops In BlackBerry
"BlackBerry" premiered earlier this week at SXSW, and everyone's raving about Glenn Howerton's transformative performance as businessman Jim Balsillie. The "Always Sunny" star takes over in the role, showing that he's got more in the tank than just Paddy's Pub shenanigans.
The film tells the uniquely Canadian story of the rise and fall of the BlackBerry mobile phones. Howerton's ruthless businessman throws himself into the game, joining the BlackBerry team as CEO and ensuring that he can get the small startup off the ground for a large chunk of the profits. In their review, Variety called the actor "nearly unrecognizable" in the role and "the MVP in an all-around terrific ensemble," saying, "Howerton delivers the kind of performance that can make a career, or force audiences to totally reconsider an actor's potential."
Fans don't even need to see "BlackBerry" to buy into Howerton's big-screen breakout performance. In the trailer's YouTube comments, one user said, "Howerton is so talented. The way he blends very sharp succinct line reads with a somewhat restrained intensity I find incredibly captivating." Similarly, on Reddit, u/Grandahl13 said, "[I] Hope people get to see how good of an actor Glenn is. I'm a massive 'Sunny' fan, and although it's a comedy show, he has moments of pure genius in nearly every episode. He's amazing."
Fans' praise of Howerton's acting continued throughout social media
While it's easy to simply write off "It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia" as a typical comedy show, fans know that Glenn Howerton has showcased his acting talents on the series for 15 seasons. With "BlackBerry," the actor finally gets the big-screen recognition he always deserved, and fans couldn't be more excited.
On Reddit, the conversation quickly shifted to Howerton's acting chops, with u/Message_10 reminding everyone that the actor attended the prestigious performing arts school Julliard. U/Magicgoathead said, "[Howerton's] a very talented actor that I feel like just never quite got the role that made him really 'break out' into being a full-on movie star," suggesting he's probably the best actor in the "Always Sunny" group. The user mentions how Howerton infamously just missed out on playing Star-Lord in "Guardians of the Galaxy," a role that could have propelled him into the spotlight much sooner. U/grimmbrother, who saw an early version of "BlackBerry," added to the excitement, saying the actor was "awesome" and "disappeared in the role."
U/Animalpoop said, "It's awesome seeing Glenn getting rave reviews for this. I can't wait to see him break out more. He's a golden god." That "Always Sunny" reference at the end of their comment was just the tip of the iceberg, as fans rallied to support Howerton using some of his iconic lines. "Howerton hasn't even begun to peak. He's a five-star man," u/extremesleuth wrote. "He's in his prime," u/MackinawCity2000 said, while u/not_cinderella warned everyone, "When he peaks, you'll know. He'll peak all over this g****** place."