Glen Powell Opens Up About ‘Special’ Reason Why He Loves Living in Texas (Exclusive)

Glen Powell is happy to be back home! 

Ahead of the launch of his new condiment line, Smash Kitchen, the actor, 36, opened up to PEOPLE about how he’s feeling almost one year after he moved back to his home state of Texas. Powell says there’s one major reason why he wanted to return to the Lone Star State after living in Los Angeles for more than 15 years. 

“My life and career so far, it’s never felt right unless I’ve had my family along for the ride,” he tells PEOPLE. “So I think the fun part for me is that I have my mom and dad there, both of my sisters and their families, and it’s just been really special being back around the family.”

Powell — who grew up in Austin and is currently finishing his college degree at the University of Texas at Austin — adds that being back in Texas “just feels comfortable and it feels right,” especially because he gets to be there for all his family members’ big milestones. 

Listing some of the “crazy family events” he was happy to be present for, he points out his younger sister Leslie Powell’s wedding, which just happened in Dallas at the end of March and was also attended by his Anyone But You co-star Sydney Sweeney. Another reason he’s glad to be home is because he’s a proud uncle, and his older sister Lauren Powell is expecting her second set of twins “any day now.”

While it’s been especially meaningful for him to support his family, he’s also grateful that they got to play a big role in the development of Smash Kitchen. 

“The fun part about even launching Smash is, with my family, they’ve been a part of the trial and error process of tasting different flavors and concepts and things like that, which has been really cool,” he says.

Powell also revealed how his family and home state inspired him to create his new condiment line, which officially launched on Wednesday, April 2. 

“The Powells love to eat, but we also love making our own sauces,” he says. “We were always messing around and experimenting in the kitchen,” adding that his family loves to whip up their own hot sauce and barbecue sauce together. 

He recalls how his grandmother “instilled this love of food in everybody” in the family, and it definitely contributed to his “desire to create” his own sauces and eventually his own condiment line. 

Not only did his family help drive his passion for food, but they also helped him come up with the name for the brand. 

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“After dinner parties, the family always has this phrase like, ‘Damn, that was a smash,’ which just means that we killed it. We killed the dinner party,” he says, noting that the line’s name also stems from “smashing expectations” when it comes to quality products being too expensive. 

The actor adds, “I’m just so happy about it because my family loves it, my friends love it, and I really think it’s going to change people’s lives. I’m very excited that we can change the way people eat without having to sacrifice taste.”

To learn more about Smash Kitchen products, visit smashkitchen.com.