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13th November 2025
05:25pm GMT

Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) have teamed up for the action-packed new movie The Running Man.
An adaptation of Stephen King's novel about a murderous game show, the story was also famously brought to the screen by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the '80s, though this new version gives it a more clever, contemporary spin.
Ahead of their new film's release, both Powell and Wright visited JOE HQ and took part in our interview series The Irish Test. This is where we test celebrities to see if they have what it takes to be a true Irish person.
In the fun and wide-ranging conversation, Powell and Wright acquitted themselves well in terms of Irish knowledge.
Powell correctly guessed that Irish people believe themselves to have the best accent in the world, to be the funniest in the world and to be the best drinkers in the world.
The actor, who briefly does an Irish accent in The Running Man that he believes is "Ireland-approved", joked about the Irish brogue: "Actually, I do have some Irish friends; they do love the sound of their own voice. Absolutely."
Wright quipped back: "Way to ingratiate yourself with the Irish viewer," before adding: "It is a beautiful accent. The English accent isn't as lyrical and lilting and singsongy."
Powell noted: "Also, comedically, I think it works very well. The sing-song... nature of the language makes for good [comedy].
"I always find [Irish people] to be the funniest. I have a lot of Irish friends, and they're funny as hell."
While Powell was unable to identify Roy Keane and Westlife - the British Edgar Wright fared better here - the action star was able to recognise Irish rockers The Cranberries.
He and Wright then broke into a spontaneous cover of the rock band's hit 'Zombie'.
Wright, meanwhile, admitted that he is not a fan of Westlife, something which honestly might endear him to a significant number of Irish people.
The director pointed out: "I used to really despise Westlife. I'm sorry, but in every single Westlife performance on TV, they're always sitting on stools, and then at the sort of key change, they all stand up"
Also during the conversation, Powell also did a kind of spot-on impression of an Irish mammy, when describing how Irish people struggle to hang up on phone calls, noting: "I thought it was like specific to a single person, and then I realised they all do it."
Wright also joked that he's booking a trip to Dublin after discovering spice bags, with Powell admitting that they "sound delicious".
Though the pair did eventually fumble, believing Irish people actually say "top of the morning", they did enough to be granted "JOE Irish passports".
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The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 84
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