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Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: lee pace, Paramount Pictures, The Running Man
Lee Pace on Bringing His Character to Life in The Running Man
Lee Pace reveals how he built his villain in The Running Man, blending deadpan detachment and brutal showmanship.
Article Summary
- Lee Pace discusses his masked villain role in Edgar Wright's The Running Man adaptation set for 2025 release.
- The film stays closer to Stephen King's original novel than the 1987 Schwarzenegger version.
- Pace reveals his character's cool demeanor and detachment from violence, shaped by anonymity.
- The Running Man reflects modern reality TV obsessions and boasts a strong early Rotten Tomatoes score.
Edgar Wright's take on The Running Man is pulling Stephen King's dystopian game show into a new era. From what we know so far, the 2025 film adapts King's 1982 novel more closely than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger version, following Ben Richards, played by Glen Powell, a desperate man who signs up for a lethal reality show where "runners" are hunted on live television in exchange for a shot at a life-changing cash prize. Around him is a solid core ensemble that includes names like Josh Brolin as the manipulative producer Dan Killian, Colman Domingo as the show's charismatic host, and Lee Pace as the masked head Hunter, Evan McCone.
McCone is also said to be one of the key elements where Wright utilizes the film's threshold for danger and satire. And, when speaking with Screen Rant, Pace offered a little more insight into his character's perspective.
Lee Pace Says His Character in The Running Man is Unphased by Violence
Pace tells the outlet, "You kind of feel your way through certain things like this. And it led me towards this cool nonchalance of the character. He's relaxed, he's unbothered by all the violence that he's surrounded by. And I thought that was kind of funny, actually." He later went on to address how the mask factors into his persona, adding, "But that's a mask, you're hidden. People can project onto you what they want you to be. And I find that that's the fun thing about a mask. McCone wants to go out on Sunday and walk his dog and hang out at the mall with his friends, and not be bothered. So, he has to wear the mask on The Running Man."
The Running Man lands in the middle of a popular moment for King titles, with The Long Walk recently wrapping its theatrical run and Welcome to Derry currently expanding the world of It on television. The current buzz from his stories also means The Running Man has a built-in audience in addition to a plot that feels timely (the book actually takes place in 2025), giving Wright a sharp lens to explore reality TV, viral spectacle, and how far audiences will go for entertainment in an era where everything is content. Fortunately for fans of the book, the film has already earned a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so we'll just have to wait and see if that momentum helps the film at the box office.
The Running Man opens in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2025, and in the United States on November 14 via Paramount Pictures.
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