*Paramount Pictures’ “The Running Man” imagines a near-future where the most popular television show is a deadly game of survival. Contestants known as Runners must evade professional assassins for 30 days while a captivated public watches their every move. For Jayme Lawson, who portrays Sheila Richards—the wife of contestant Ben Richards (Glen Powell)—the story’s spectacle is only the backdrop for a deeper, more emotional fight to protect one’s family.
Lawson describes Sheila as a woman carrying an immense burden at home while the world outside spirals into violence and spectacle. “Sheila is a woman who is working long hours, is pulling double shifts, is doing all that she can to save her baby and to keep her family alive,” she says. With Ben unable to work, Sheila keeps them afloat without resentment or blame. “What I love about this film is you get to see the love between her and her husband, despite all the odds that are against them.”
Her perspective reflects the humanity that still exists in a society consumed by ratings and brutality. Lawson sees Sheila as someone who refuses to let that outside chaos contaminate her home.
“If you live in something long enough, it’s just your normal,” she explains. The divide between the violent world and her personal sanctuary shaped her portrayal. “When I cross that door, when I go into that apartment, I’m not going to let that bleed into this.”
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Although much of the film surrounds Ben Richards’ televised ordeal, Sheila’s presence anchors the emotional core of the story. Lawson spent nearly all her scenes opposite Glen Powell, who plays Ben. “He’s one of those people that, before I got to meet him, I heard nothing but great things about, and he lived up to that,” she says. Working with “real children” strengthened the bond between their characters: “Them babies made it so that we bonded instantly.”
For Lawson, building that connection was essential to understanding Ben’s motivation once he enters the deadly competition. “It was important that we understood what his heartbeat is,” she says. The stakes are not just about survival on television—they’re about the family waiting at home, the very thing that keeps Ben fighting.
“Why is he going to run for two hours? Why are we watching that?… Why is because of what he’s fighting for, what’s at home that’s got him tethered.”
From director Edgar Wright, “The Running Man,” based on the novel by Stephen King, is now playing in theaters, including Dolby Cinema, 4DX, Premium Large Format, and IMAX. The film also stars William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Sean Hayes, Katy O’Brian, Colman Domingo, and Josh Brolin.
Watch our conversation with Jayme Lawson below.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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