The Star of the Summer Is Glen Powell’s Dog, Brisket

About midway through Twisters , Daisy Edgar-Jones ’ character Kate asks Glen Powell ’s Tyler Owens whether he “saved the dog.”

“Of course I saved the dog,” he replies, with that perfect mixture of smugness and charm that makes him the reigning movie star hunk.

Now, we do not see that dog, which Tyler was searching for in the rubble of a town destroyed by a tornado. Still, if you’ve been following the press tour for the movie, you might have expected a cameo, because a pup has been getting almost as much attention as Powell and Edgar-Jones themselves. Who is this canine star? Well, it’s Brisket, of course.

Brisket is the extremely adorable rescue pup belonging to Powell.

Brisket has appeared at the Los Angeles premiere for the movie, wearing a bow tie, obviously. Brisket has done the junket circuit, sitting on Edgar-Jones’ lap next to Powell as they do interviews. Brisket has watched Powell and Edgar-Jones do viral dances with co-star Anthony Ramos. Brisket has appeared alongside Powell in photoshoots for Entertainment Weekly and British GQ . Brisket has a tiny dog T-shirt made in his honor reading “Hot Brisket Summer.” Brisket has also, crucially, starred in Powell thirst traps on Instagram , but not one to share the spotlight he also has his own Insta, where his cuteness gets to fully shine .

Brisket is, in other words, a goddamn star.

Powell announced that he adopted Brisket from Los Angeles-based rescue The LaBelle Foundation about a year ago with a post that read “It’s a ruff world out there, so I thought it was about time I hire a proper bodyguard… Meet BRISKET - 1.5 pounds of raw power.”

More recently, Powell told EW how he was filming Twisters in Oklahoma, going through a breakup when he decided he wanted to adopt. “I don’t even know how to describe it, I just had the desire to be a father,” he said. Brisket immediately took to the spotlight, becoming a “set mascot,” even while he was keeping Powell up at night crying in that puppy way.

Thus, it makes sense that Brisket would partake in the press tour. He was basically on the crew of the movie.

Now, I’ll confess, I clocked Brisket long before his breakout moment, in the same way I clocked Powell long before this “Hot Glen Summer” as soon as I saw him in Richard Linklater’s 2016 baseball hangout movie Everybody Wants Some!! Being a certified Crazy Dog Lady, as soon as I saw Brisket had his own Instagram it was an insta-follow.

But like Powell, Brisket has come into his own. He’s gotten bigger and lost some of that sheer OH MY GOD LOOK AT HIM cuteness that comes with puppydom, but he’s also more confident. He knows how to work a camera, but is also completely natural on screen. He knows his job is wingman to Powell, but he’s also operating on his own wavelength. (After all, he’s a dog.)

Look, the cynical part of my brain is telling me that Brisket’s presence on this press tour is just a marketing ploy. After all, he’s not in the movie. But I honestly don’t care. Brisket only enhances Powell’s already copious appeal and I think more people should bring their dogs everywhere they go. Let Hot Brisket Summer reign.

Read more at The Daily Beast.