Long before Glenn Powell became a household name in Hollywood worthy of filling Tom Cruise’s shoes, he had a small, nameless role in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises.

In his recent Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue profile, the Top Gun: Maverick star recalled “fighting for every inch” at that early point in his career when he got the chance to audition for the Oscar-winning director.

“I was getting to work with the greatest director on the planet,” Powell shared, recalling the “electric,” “out-of-body experience” when Tom Hardy walked onto the set as Bane. “When Christopher Nolan casts you in his movie, it’s a validation that’s hard to explain,” he added.

Powell’s few seconds of screen time showed him as a stockbroker who got his head smashed in by Bane during the invasion of the Gotham Stock Market. And yet, despite how short-lived it was, Powell says the experience is still “something I carry to every set I walk on now.”

“I remember everything. You never forget the feeling… which is just the reverence for being on a set in general. But I remember on Dark Knight Rises the feeling of being able to walk onto a set and you knew everybody in the world wanted to be on that set, right?” he said.

Since then, Powell has become the face of some of the biggest flicks, including Top Gun, Twister, and Anyone But You. He has also kept in touch with Nolan.

He told Vanity Fair, “I’ve talked to Chris about this. We’ve run into each other at different things. I saw him during his amazing Oppenheimer run, and he’s very proud that he plucked me early. I’m just very grateful that he took a shot.”