PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Car chases, brutal fights and shocking deceptions abound in RUNNER, the latest film from Angel Studios that’s hitting theaters Sept. 11. But this isn’t another cookie-cutter action movie. In the midst of the speeding and bloodshed, there’s heart as the characters grapple with love, loss and complicated dynamics.
Directed by Scott Waugh and written by Miles Hubley and Tommy White, RUNNER follows former soldier Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) as he and Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson), a happy-go-lucky medical courier, team up to transport a liver to a dying little girl whose life depends on their arrival. However, their journey is made difficult by ruthless cartel leader Damian Zaldívar (Rodrigo Santoro), who desperately wants the organ for his own personal reasons.
Ahead of the film’s release, PopHorror had the pleasure of speaking with Santoro about his musical process to tap into Damian’s dramatic yet vulnerable depth, and Waugh about the creative thrill and freedom that came with filming along Australia’s scenic Gold Coast.
PopHorror: Rodrigo, I’d love to start with you. Damian is much more emotional and deep than what we assume at the start of the movie. He’s just trying to save his family and prove himself worthy in their eyes. I understand that you listened to opera to help get into Damian’s headspace. As a music lover myself, I find that so interesting. What was it about opera that helped you connect to him?
Rodrigo Santoro: My process is always different. I don’t have a formula when I approach a character, but I do always work with music. I live with music. I love music. In this case, I thought that Damian was operatic. I felt that this thing was an opera for him. And the movements that an opera has, it just made me feel what this character was going through. As the story unfolds, it gets harder and harder. It gets more challenging. For Damian, like you said, the stakes are really high and he has a very strong motivation, so he needs to do that [steal the liver]. He’s on a mission. He needs to get that done. But freaking Hank Malone and Ben just drive him crazy! And that’s where the opera starts. When they meet, to me, it’s an opera. So, I picked some of the operas that I really like and I would listen to not only that, but a lot of stuff. But opera was one of the biggest inspirations.
PopHorror: Scott, I know that Australia wasn’t the original location pick for the film. London and some other cities were initially under consideration. How did being “Down Under” shape the action that you could create, especially coming from a stunt background yourself? I’m particularly envisioning those intense car chase scenes.
Scott Waugh: We kind of traveled the globe trying to find a place to really land the screenplay at. My prerequisite for the producers was just wherever we film, the story has to take place. That’s when we moved the story to Australia. We had to do a rewrite to adapt the script to take place in Australia and it allowed me the freedom as a filmmaker to not hide where we are, but actually showcase where we are. On my first film Act of Valor, I was able to really immerse the audience in a way because camera-wise, I had no restrictions. I could shoot wherever I wanted and really thrust the audience into the movie. But I just didn’t have that in my last several movies. I’ve been handcuffed because we were in places where I can only shoot this one direction because if I look this way, it’s a whole different place. I just don’t want that anymore. So, that’s why we rewrote the screenplay to make this a more visceral experience.
PopHorror: For all the car chases, fights, mystery and humor, there’s a driving force behind every character: love. They’re all going to different extremes for the people that they love. Can you talk about the importance of that shared emotion in keeping the film feeling grounded and human, and not just another action movie?
Scott Waugh: Absolutely. I was really looking for a script where I can get back to that ’80s, ’90s action movie where it’s grounded and there’s heart they’re fighting for. To have two characters going against all odds to save a 7-year-old girl from dying to me is just, how can you not root for these men? To have that be the actual genesis for the reason that they’re going makes the action justifiable. That’s why we can go as big as we want with the action because you actually emotionally connect with them. You know that they shouldn’t ever stop no matter what obstacles from Damian are put in front of them.
Thanks for speaking with us, Rodrigo and Scott! RUNNER is in theaters nationwide on Sept. 11.
