The race is on: Inside Glen Powell's action-packed turn as The Running Man — and why he's happy '...

Director Edgar Wright and stars Powell, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Lee Pace go on the run with their new dystopian thriller. The race is on: Inside Glen P

Director Edgar Wright and stars Powell, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Lee Pace go on the run with their new dystopian thriller.

The race is on: Inside Glen Powell's action-packed turn as The Running Man — and why he's happy 'chasing the danger'

Director Edgar Wright and stars Powell, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, and Lee Pace go on the run with their new dystopian thriller.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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October 9, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

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Glen Powell is furiously running for his life — in nothing but a towel.**** He's headed to the shower in the YMCA-like facility where he's been hiding when a team of armed hunters closes in, leaving no time to grab clothes. No time to do anything except *run*. And run he does… and twist, and climb, and hide, and contort himself through this building set in some future hellscape version of America, until he finds himself with nothing left to do but repel dangerously off its roof. **

At this point, it's unclear what hangs more precariously in the balance: Powell's life or the towel. The scene, of course, is part of director Edgar Wright's dystopian thriller *The Running Man*. The film (based on the Stephen King novel of the same name) stars Powell as Ben Richards, an out-of-work father who, desperate to help his sick daughter, joins the titular game show, where contestants are paid to run for their lives as a team of hunters — or anyone in the country, really — tries to kill them on national television.**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

Wright, who co-wrote the film with Michael Bacall and produced alongside Nira Park and Simon Kinberg, swears the thirst-trap towel scene predates the casting of his leading man. Nevertheless, he gives Powell — who does his own stunts in the film, including this one — "a gold star" for agreeing to the almost-nude escapade, which unintentionally involved a bit of a bait-and-switch pitch. **

"I didn't protest that one," Powell admits, noting that the sequence emulates "pretty much all of *Die Hard*" in one 10-minute stretch. "I found it very, very funny, and something that I've never seen in a movie before. We've all gotten a Postmates delivery out of the shower before. But can you imagine if there were guns along with it?"**

Glen Powell and Edgar Wright take EW on the set of 'The Running Man' (exclusive)

Colman Domingo previews 'rollercoaster ride' of 'The Running Man'

However, when it came time to actually shoot the scene, "I regretted agreeing to it," the star admits, "because I agreed to that scene in the summertime, and we shot that scene in February in Bulgaria on a rooftop. So being in a towel in front of a crew is one thing, but being in a towel in February in frigid Bulgaria, it's a sight."

Pausing to laugh at the memory, he adds, "It's a *real* sight."**

It's a similar sight to **'s *Running Man* cover shoot, where Powell yet again finds himself hanging — albeit, more clothed this time — on a set made to look like a post-apocalyptic underground tunnel of sorts, complete with eerie fog and a maze of rusted pipes.**

Unlike in the film (in theaters Nov. 14), Powell is not in any danger on this September morning in Los Angeles. In fact, Hollywood's new favorite leading man looks completely at ease working the room, greeting everyone with hugs and chatting about his beloved Texas Longhorns.**

Despite appearances, though, this isn't the native Austinite's natural state of being.

"It's been a new thing for me to have to talk to big groups of people," the 36-year-old admits a few weeks later. "I'm actually a very shy person who now has to do a lot of unshy things."**

Sudden superstardom and all the unwanted attention that comes with it are experiences Powell and his *Running Man* character have in common.

"I think the journey of Ben Richards and me, there's definitely overlap, which is as a public figure, especially now, I would say the truth has probably never mattered less — we're in a TikTokification age where everyone's trying to gain followers or after their own agendas. People do whatever it takes to get what they need and say whatever they need to say to get what they need… You can't blame anyone, but it is just the system that we live in," he says.**

His character, meanwhile, goes on *The Running Man* TV show to save his family, but quickly learns that he's just signed his life away to a system designed for him to fail.

"And even more so, you're set up to become the villain so that the world cheers for you to lose," Powell says. "I find it always fascinating in terms of our news cycle, how quickly news spreads and how quickly we're here to define heroes and villains, and how odd that there's no nuance or fact-checking. It's rapid headlines, almost to an overwhelming degree, which is very dangerous. And you start to see that pack mentality of how the internet works. And we very much play on that in *The Running Man*."**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

Like his onscreen alter ego, though, Powell is figuring out how to grapple with the fame in his own way.

"Look, this is a new phase in my life, but I'm getting more comfortable, and being able to smile easier at those things," he promises.**

One area where the Glen Powell-Ben Richards Venn diagram doesn't overlap, however, is in his character's righteous anger, which pulsates throughout both the book and the film, giving it its sardonic, witty heart. On set, Wright would refer to this aspect of the character as "Bad Mood Glen."**

How did he encourage Bad Mood Glen to come out to play? Wright doesn't take any credit.

"I think he was just brilliant at modulating it," says Wright. Still, he admits, "It *was *fun to wind him up. His anger was like his spinach. I am really happy with his performance in the movie."**

When EW poses the same question to Powell, he simply laughs.

"What's really funny is nobody's asked me that *ever*," he explains. "And it makes me laugh because I would say as a person, I'm known for having a very long fuse. It takes a lot to make me lose my patience."**

Glen Powell as Ben Richards in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

To get fired up, he focused on things that normally would not bother him — such as the temperature in the room, or how loud people were talking, or if things weren't running on time.

"You're just trying to find something that pisses you off," Powell explains. "In a great romance or rom-com, you find something in the other person that you find really attractive and alluring, and you focus on that. [With this,] I would find things that annoyed me a little bit and really focus on it."**

Of course, it helps when you have angry lines of dialogue, such as Ben Richards' penchant for calling *Running Man* viewers "s---eaters." This particular epithet is pulled straight from the book, which King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and published in 1982. It was previously (very loosely) adapted into a 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger — who appears on some currency in the 2025 adaptation, as an homage. Wright counts himself among King's many devoted fans, and the *Baby Driver* helmer sent the screenplay to the horror maestro ahead of production.**

"I was most nervous about what he would think, but he loved it," Wright says.

Though, he admits, the encouragement was both a gift and a curse.

"It was just amazing to have his blessing. But in a weird way, that just ups the pressure because then we've still got to make the movie," he notes.**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

Wright calls this film "probably the biggest, most ambitious thing that I've done. So actually finishing a production of this scale with so many moving parts in the timeframe was, pun intended, quite the marathon."

One of the reasons for that was the decision to keep this version a "road movie" like the book — unlike the 1987 adaptation, which is largely set in one underground arena.**

The film features a whopping 170 sets and locations around the world.

"There were some days when it felt like we were the traveling circus," Wright says. "And much like Ben Richards on the game itself, we were on our heels the entire time. It felt in some ways like we were really doing the show. We were on the run with Ben Richards." (Wright jokes that when he wrapped filming, he found himself envious of the previous adaptation's limited environment: "Ah, yeah, they were smart.")**

To bring *The Running Man*'s dystopian future to life on the big screen, Wright took some inspiration from John Carpenter's 1981 film *Escape From New York*, but generally avoided pulling from the genre's most iconic visual reference points.

"I feel like *Blade Runner* is so influential — it's more the thing of, how can we stay away from *Blade Runner* and do something different? I feel like that one in particular seems to have cornered the market on future dystopia," he says.**

Glen Powell as Ben Richards in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

Just how far into the future this film goes, though, is never made clear. Ironically — or perhaps prophetically — the book is set in 2025, but Wright says his film takes place in "a different tomorrow. We're sort of five minutes in the future and off to the left. I always find with sci-fi movies, you can never put the date far enough ahead. I always think for future watchers, it's a mistake to put a date on it. So even with *2001: A Space Odyssey*, I'm sad that we didn't reach the level of technology, a 1968 idea of 2001. So I decided just not to put a number on it at all."**

Still, viewers will recognize glimpses of our 2025 in familiar brand names and cities — alongside fictional ones, such as Co-Op City (the slum district where the Richards family lives) and Derry, Maine, where many of King's books are set.**

And of course there's the *Running Man* show itself, which, while thankfully not real (yet), was set up to resemble a cross "between UFC and *American Idol*," Wright says.**

Katy O'Brian, Glen Powell, and Martin Herlihy play runners in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

In addition to Richards (who predominantly goes by his last name in the film), this TV show within the movie also follows the deadly adventures of two other runners, portrayed by Katy O'Brian and Martin Herlihy. Wright and Co. also created other fictional game shows and advertisements, though only a fraction of what they shot ended up in the finished film.**

"There's definitely a lot of extra crazy, silly stuff from the various shows within shows," Wright says.

For instance, "you see this reality show called *The Americanos*, where we had a murderer's row of talent: Cat Cohen, Debi Mazar, Emma Sidi playing members of this coffee magnet family on a reality show."

He also teases that comedian Bill O'Neill cameos as a past *Running Man* contestant.

"There's a lot of extra material, which I think will end up on the DVD of extra parts of the TV shows that we made."**

Fake TV shows also have to have a fake network… and someone to run it. Cue Josh Brolin, who plays Dan Killian — or as Powell describes the character, "a deliciously evil son of a bitch."**

Glen Powell as Ben Richards and Josh Brolin as Dan Killian in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

When EW relays this description to Brolin, he smirks.

"There you go. Who better than me, right? I mean, you start to get a complex after a while," he jokes, referring to his penchant for playing villains.

But, he cautions, "All the bad guys in movie history that I've loved — and a lot of 'em that I've gotten to know — are the nicest people in the world. And I'll say the same about the heroes. You meet the heroes and you're like, 'No, what an a--hole.'"**

Brolin wasn't sure he'd get to play this particular bad guy at all. A lung infection knocked him down for a month and a half prior to making the film, causing him to lose 20 pounds. When he showed up to set, he was still wheezing between takes.

"I was like, 'There's no way — I'm going to have to drop out of this movie,'" Brolin says. "I even told Edgar, 'I don't know if I can do this. I mean, I can't even breathe.'"**

But the veteran star pushed through, and says the illness — "like some kind of weird divine God acting coach" — actually assisted in his portrayal of Richards' nemesis.

"I felt like I was compensating a lot [because of the infection]," he says. "So the calm in him, I don't know if that's so me, because I'm more animated than he is, but I think that there was a lot of quiet compensation, like a quieter evil."**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

Still, he wanted the character to have teeth, literally. Brolin says all of the executive producers he knows have an extremely white, toothy smile. And while he finds the look "weird," because he's built his "career on yellow teeth," he saw it as a great opportunity for the character. **

So, he turned to his upcoming *Wake Up Dead Man* costar Glenn Close, whom he says shares his love of "the lost art of prosthetics." They were talking on the set of Rian Johnson's upcoming third *Knives* *Out* film and, according to Brolin, "Glenn said, 'Oh my God, I have the greatest tooth guy.' I was like, 'I want to meet this guy,' and I did, and it was kind of perfect."**

Teeth in place, it was time to figure out the rest of Dan Killian.

"I know most of those guys, and I'm close to a lot of those guys," the seasoned actor says of entertainment executives, "and they're all pretty normal when it comes down to it behind the scenes. But there's some characters out there, like Brian Grazer, Ron Meyer — there's a lot of people I know," he says, pausing for comedic effect, "with very white teeth."**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

He also recalls late talent manager Jeff Wald.

"He put a shotgun in somebody's mouth to get what he wanted at one point," Brolin shares, referencing a 1980 incident involving picketing hotel employees in Tahoe that resulted in Wald's arrest. "I know all the stories, and I knew those guys. So it was easy to be able to pull from."**

While Killian delivers a more charming type of menace, there's another baddie who's unapologetically evil: *The Running Man* show's head hunter, Evan McCone. Played by Lee Pace, the villain is a "ghost who's haunting Ben Richards and following him through his journey through the film, and obviously trying to kill him," according to the actor.**

Ghost is an apt description of McCone, given that he wears a mask over his face throughout the film, which was Wright's idea. The director and Pace worked with the costume department on numerous variations before landing on the final look.

"We had different ideas for the mask," Pace explains. "Was it going to be like a balaclava? Was it going to be just glasses? There were lots of different ways we could go about the mask."**

Lee Pace as Evan McCone in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

The final version unnerved the *Bodies Bodies Bodies* actor because of its resemblance to bandages, "like he's suffered some kind of terrible misshapen thing on his face" that he's trying to hide.

"It's so carefully tailored to his face. And there's something so intentional about him hiding what he looks like that I find terrifying," Pace admits. "There's something very ghostly and terrifying about a killer who's going to hide his face. It's the executioner's mask — and medieval, in a way."**

Pace continues, "The network doesn't orchestrate the killings. The show is about watching him hunt these people down, find them, and then murder them in entertaining ways in front of the audience. That's who Evan McCone is. One of the ideas that I latched onto early was his 'performative masculinity.' That's what he's trying to achieve for the audience. He wants the swagger... and to make a spectacle of the violence."**

Somebody else who knows a thing or two about spectacles is the fabulous host of *The Running Man*, Bobby T, played by Colman Domingo, who Pace gushes "is so f---ing fun in this movie. It's fun to watch Colman take on that delicious big showman. He had that audience of extras in the palm of his hand."**

Colman Domingo stars as Bobby T in 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

The *Sing Sing* star had just finished filming the first season of the Netflix comedy series *The Four Seasons* and was looking forward to having the holidays and the month of January off.

"Truly, it was like a week before Christmas, I got this offer and I thought, *Oh no*," he says. "And then I heard Edgar Wright, and I was like, *Oh man, I love his work*. Glen Powell? *Oh, what a good guy*. Josh Brolin? *Oh, God*. I said, *Please let this script be bad*. I was really hoping. I said, *Please*!"**

Spoiler alert: He said yes, unable to resist a "tricky character" like the TV host, who seems to exist in his own separate movie.

"It's funny, my set pieces came in very late in the shooting schedule, so by the time I arrived, I felt that the crew also felt like it was a whole different film subject," Domingo says. "The worlds that they were populating were dark and action-packed. And then suddenly we're at Radio City Music Hall or whatever, and we have a showman's song and dance with hot girl dancers and things like that. I wasn't under duress at all. I came in and had a ball."

Powell, on the other hand, says *The Running Man* was "by far" the most physical project he's done — and this is someone who's played a pilot, a hit man, a tornado chaser, and a college football quarterback. In fact, Powell was getting his "ass kicked" so much that he called his *Top Gun: Maverick* costar and mentor Tom Cruise for help.**

The *Chad Powers* star's primary concerns: being believable and surviving the grueling shoot.

"What is your advice on not only how to make these things look authentic for an audience, but how to survive a movie?" Powell recalls asking. He and the famously stunt-happy Cruise spent two-and-a-half hours discussing it, and Powell still has the copious notes he took during the call.**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

"It was made very clear after talking to him that there was a real sense of discipline around these things and to treat these stunts with reverence, because you can get extremely hurt, and he knows it better than anyone," Powell shares. "He's broken every bone in his body. He's like, 'This is not messing around.'"**

Cruise also highlighted the privilege of performing stunts, and what it means to the audience.

"To do all those things is really, really crucial to sell what you need to sell in a movie, and to justify people's ticket prices," Powell says. "If they're following you, they want to know that that's the commitment — if I want you to show up for *me*, I've got to show up for *you*."**

The investment paid off, at least for one very important audience member.

"Stephen King watched the film recently, and one thing he said that I really liked was, 'It's much more faithful to the book, but different enough to keep it exciting for me,'" Wright shares.**

Director Edgar Wright on the set of 'The Running Man'.

Ross Ferguson/Paramount

For the rest of the viewers, the director and co-writer hopes the film "is both entertaining and powerful in equal measure. I think, as science fiction, it's disturbingly relevant to where we're at today. Maybe more timely than we'd like, or that we could even imagine. I think the best you can hope for with a genre film is that it works — not purely as entertainment, but it leaves you with a lot to chew on. And that's the response we've had so far."**

Back at the EW cover shoot, everyone is taking turns holding Powell's rescue dog, Brisket, who calmly watches as his human poses for photos as pump-it-up jams, including "Get Lucky" and "Back in Black," play in the background. But things take a turn when Powell grabs some large weights in between setups and starts doing some reps. The pint-sized pooch begins yelping in distress, as if he's concerned for Powell's well-being.**

So, maybe count Brisket out when *The Running Man* hits theaters.

"Some of the things that you'll see me go through, not even just physically, but emotionally, it's pretty hardcore," Powell says. So much so that he was "pretty scared" to take on the role. But he's learned to take that fear and channel it.

"I'm constantly scared. I just say yes a lot to things that scare me," he reflects. "All my favorite moments of life never involve me feeling necessarily confident. It's always when I'm going into the unknown."**

Ultimately, Powell believes that fear makes his acting feel more real and, therefore, more exciting for audiences.

"That's one of the things I'm taking away from this experience: letting yourself go on a dangerous run. Taking a bit of a dangerous journey and trusting that you'll probably survive. On this one, I was proud that I made it to the other side. This was a gauntlet in every way. Spiritually, physically, and emotionally, it was a true crucible. But it always arms you with new things on the other side. So I think I'm chasing the danger a little bit more." (Sorry, Brisket.)**

Glen Powell photographed exclusively for EW's 'The Running Man' cover shoot.

*—Additional reporting by Clark Collis*

*Directed by Kristen Harding + Alison Wild*

*Photography by Pari Dukovic***

***Motion** - DP: Eric Talesnick; 1st AC: Sean Goode; 2nd AC: Oliver Lewis; DIT: Levi Jensen; Key Grip: Robert Exner; BBG: Justin Shertick; Grips: Alex Aligo, Anthony Villarreal; Gaffer: Thomas Sigurdsson; BBE: Christopher Williams; Electric: Scott Smith, Nick Schulte***

***Production Design** - Production Designer: Grapes Wasserman; Set Dressers: Monica Seagle, Adam Kanter***

***Photo** - Assistants: Cory Hackbarth, Dante Guerra, Ryan Cassels-Conway; Digital Tech: Clay Rasmussen***

***Production** - Producer: Austin Sepulveda; Production Supervisor: Russ Taylor; Assistant Production Supervisors: Quinn Cavin, Paul Barney; 1st AD: Lou Tochett; 2nd AD: Larry McGee***

***Post-Production** - Color Correction: Nate Seymour/TRAFIK; VFX: Viktor Metelev; Design: Alice Morgan; Score: Steven Price***

***Glen Powell** - Styling: Warren Alfie Baker/The Wall Group; Grooming: Tim Dueñas; (Wardrobe) T-Shirt: Cotton Citizen; Tank: Calvin Klein; Pants: John Varvatos; Red Jacket: Diesel; Black Jacket: Vintage; Belt: Annie P Vintage; Watch: Omega*

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Source: "AOL Movies"

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