NEED TO KNOW
Glen Powell channeled Bruce Willis in Die Hard for one of his most complex stunt sequences featured in Running Man.
PEOPLE has an exclusive behind-the-scenes video breaking down a scene in the film, directed by Edgar Wright, in which Powell’s on-the-run Ben Richards is forced to evade hunters while wearing nothing but a bath towel.
“The YVA, it’s a crazy set piece,” says Powell, 37, while on set in the clip. “I say it’s essentially the entire Die Hard movie in 15 minutes. It is badass. It is sick. And it is what we’re shooting today.”
Adds Wright, “I mean, when you think about Bruce Willis in the first Die Hard, when he was, like, ‘the guy from Moonlighting’ and suddenly he’s in that situation, you fear for his life. In a way that you don’t in later Bruce Willis movies or even the sequels because by that point he’s John McClane. But in the first one you’re watching this action hero emerge and improvise a lot of the time.”
Ross Ferguson/Paramount Pictures
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Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Powell previously said he “didn’t protest” the pitch to do the action sequence while scantily clad in a towel — until the time came to film it.
“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?” he said, later adding, “I regretted agreeing to it because I agreed to that scene in the summertime, and we shot that scene in February in Bulgaria on a rooftop.”
Ross Ferguson/Paramount Pictures
“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,” joked Powell. “It’s a real sight.”
Now available to watch on digital, Running Man’s at-home release includes more behind-the-scenes featurettes, commentary, deleted and extended scenes and more.
There’s also a compilation of the stunts that showcases a “full-throttle look at the hits, falls, wire work, wipeouts and perfectly timed chaos that fuel the film’s biggest moments,” per a press release.
Based on the Stephen King novel, Running Man also stars William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jayme Lawson, Sean Hayes, Katy O’Brian, Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin.
Running Man is now available on digital.
