We know that Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow looks like Cillian Murphy. Glasnow knows he looks like Murphy. Murphy knows he looks like Glasnow. But we didn’t know—at least until Tuesday night in the Bronx, where Glasnow’s team was in town to play the Yankees—how Glasnow felt about all of this.
Hanging out with GQ in front of his locker, Glasnow revealed that he is a huge fan of both Murphy and Christopher Nolan. We asked whether the doppelgänger conversation has grown louder since Oppenheimer came out, if Glasnow has done any acting (or would), and if he was also a bit distracted by one of his childhood favorites appearing in the big, serious atomic bomb movie. He did not disappoint.
Glasnow: No, I’ve gotten it for a while, all the doppelgänger stuff. It’s definitely been more now, but there hasn’t been a big shift or anything. I don’t really look at Instagram. I’m not on there a ton, and I think most of this [lookalike conversation] is through online stuff. Sometimes I’ll get stopped in Tampa and stuff, but nothing crazy.
I can’t remember exactly how it started, but it was like three years ago. That’s when I sort of became that thing—half baseball and half that. Then my mom was like, "You kind of do look like him!” Certain times I feel like I look like him, and other times I don’t at all. It depends on the picture, I guess.
Absolutely! I think he’s fucking awesome. Peaky Blinders is really good. I think he’s such a good actor, so I’m like, “That’s cool, yeah!” He looks great.
Yeah, of course. If you say you’re not a Christopher Nolan fan, you’re crazy. You know what I mean? He’s awesome. All his Batman movies are pretty sick. Is he Interstellar and Inception too? [GQ: Yes.] Holy shit. Interstellar is really good. Wow! I didn’t know that he did Interstellar. Maybe I don’t know that much. That movie is insane. I like—Cillian was in Batman Begins too, right? [GQ: Yes.] He does a lot of movies! Wow, that’s incredible.
Yeah, yeah, I heard he was shorter.
I don’t know, I’d have to see his athletic ability. I’d give him 40 [miles per hour]. Maybe 50? I’ll say 50. There’s been some dudes—I don’t know about five seven—but some short dudes who throw very, very hard.
I have! It was awesome. I went to an IMAX theater in Tampa. It was sick. I love the movies, so I go as much as I can. There hasn’t been anything that I’ve really wanted to see recently, but now we’ve got Oppenheimer, obviously, and if my girlfriend wanted to see Barbie I’d do that with her. I think she wants to see it with her friends, though. That’s fine. But I’ll probably see it at some point. I heard it was actually pretty good. [Back-to-back] is what, like five, six hours? Just eating and drinking the whole time, that’s the best part. What’s that other new one? The trafficking one [Sound of Freedom]? I want to see that really bad.
I just thought every scene, you could tell they poured a lot of time into it. It was three hours long, but every scene was supposed to be there. Also, this is a super easy answer, but the bomb. It goes down slowly and then it’s quiet, but the moment it goes off? That was insane. I remember thinking, “How are you supposed to do a nuclear bomb justice in a movie?” It was perfect. That’s why I wanted to see it in IMAX. I had to wait a while too because it was sold out in Tampa. There was always one seat in the corner up front, but it was worth the wait. I really loved it.
Can I do one out of ten? I’d give it a nine out of ten. I thought it was great. In terms of, like, how much time you could tell it took. You know what I mean? They didn’t just throw a movie together. Maybe because I saw it in IMAX, I just felt like I picked everything up a lot more.
I know, me too! I was like, wait—Drake and Josh? That’s nuts. Going from that to the guy who presses the button in Oppenheimer.
When I was little, like really little, I did some plays during the summers before I had to start doing baseball full-time. It was the Canyon Theatre Guild, I think. It was a camp or something, probably something so my mom didn’t have to stay home with me. She used to do plays there. I did one or two and just didn’t really like it. I wasn’t a very good actor.
I can give you the plot, maybe you’ll know it. Actually, no, I can’t. I don’t remember. I just know there was a scene where the king comes out and he’s naked but he doesn’t know it?
I think it might have been! Clearly, I wasn’t that into it. I wasn’t anything big in the play. I was just there to be babysat, I think. I don’t remember any of the specific details; I just remember being in it.
Oh! That’s sick, I’m down to do that!
Fuck yeah! As long as it doesn’t overlap with the season or it’s not too stressful. I would 100% do it, of course.
Whatever is a creamy substance works for me. I have a conditioner or two, but I usually just use whatever the clubhouse has. I get really dry, so if I don’t have anything, I’ll just use, like, hand lotion.
[Smiling] I guess! I don’t know, I think it just depends. If I’m being really healthy, my hair is always healthier too. If I’m eating well and sleeping often, then my hair is in good health. If I’m not, then I can tell my hair is not good. I’m sure I’ll cut it eventually. You can’t have long hair forever.
[Laughing] That’s going to be hard. He’s from, like, Ireland? He’s not going to come to Tampa to come to a baseball game. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. But it’d be cool. I doubt he’s ever been to a baseball game.
No. He can probably do my accent and kill it.
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Yeah, I saw that. I forget who sent it to me. But that was funny, he’s just curious I guess. I was convinced there’s no chance he’d know who I am. Doesn’t he not do anything online? Someone must have sent it to him. I listened to him on a podcast once, and it seems like he’s pretty secluded. I don’t know if he just hangs out in Hollywood. Does he live in Ireland full time? I don’t fucking know.
