Scott Waugh on 'Runner' Action: Scout First, Character Always — SkimNews
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- Scott Waugh began as a stunt performer at age 12, following his father Fred Waugh, and became president of Stunts Unlimited before retiring from stunts at 30 to direct films including 'Act of Valor' (2012), 'Need for Speed' (2014), and 'Expend4bles' (2023).
- Waugh's latest film 'Runner' opens Friday via Angel Studios, starring Alan Ritchson as a former soldier and Owen Wilson as Ben, an organ courier whose mission to deliver a liver to a girl is derailed by a cartel.
- Waugh scouts locations solo and up to four weeks before any crew arrives—he went to Australia alone for 'Runner' to find settings that could 're-engineer' action sequences rather than forcing a scripted idea into an impractical spot.
- Waugh designs action around emotional purpose rather than combat, using the case holding the liver as the focal point of chase sequences so the audience tracks who is gaining and losing ground instead of just watching a brawl.
- Waugh tailors every fight to the character's actual background—Owen Wilson's Ben is not a soldier but a thrice-divorced courier, so Waugh choreographed him to 'crawl through the melee' rather than fight.
- Waugh credits his stunt career with earning trust from action stars including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jackie Chan, John Cena, and Dolph Lundgren, noting that veterans like Stallone ask 'What do you think, kid?' because they know he has lived the work.
Why it matters: Waugh's character-first, location-driven blueprint—solo-recce four weeks early, emotional beats over spectacle, fights tailored to training—offers a concrete working method that distinguishes 'Runner' as a character-driven action film rather than a stunt reel. For Angel Studios, positioning the release around Waugh's craft gives the marketing a defensible hook beyond Ritchson's 'Reacher' draw, in a marketplace where stunt-trained directors like Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and Sam Hargrave have set the modern action template.
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