Rodrigo Santoro steps into a layered villain role in RUNNER, Angel Studios’ new action movie about a life-saving medical delivery pursued by a ruthless cartel.
“There’s something very powerful about the instinct of helping another person when there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be safe yourself” was Santoro’s central observation during the TODAY interview.
The comments put a human emphasis on a story built around an urgent act of service. RUNNER follows former soldier Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) and his unlikely partner Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson) as they race to deliver an organ to a sick child while a cartel chases them.
Angel Studios’ official RUNNER page lists the title as a 2026 PG-13 action movie with a 1-hour-37-minute runtime and a Sept. 11 release date. The official synopsis says the partners must survive a manhunt and deliver their cargo before the girl runs out of time.
Santoro said the role is not the typical villain but a three-dimensional character with surprises as the story unfolds. The character is unpredictable and dangerous, but Santoro said the performance also needed to reveal the vulnerability beneath the threat.
“I don’t think Damien deserves any kind of redemption, but it’s important to humanize, you know, every character you play,” Santoro said, discussing the role.
That distinction matters for Movieguide® readers because humanizing a fictional antagonist does not require excusing his actions. Santoro described Damian as a troubled man trying to prove himself to his mother, a motive that gives the chase story a personal pressure point without turning wrongdoing into virtue.
The interview also shifts attention from villains to the people who run toward danger. Santoro said the movie made him think about people who put everything on the line when someone else needs help, especially the first responders represented by Hank and Ben.
He connected that courage to real people who answer emergencies every day. For a family audience, the premise offers a clear question: what does courage look like when helping someone else carries a real cost?
Movieguide® gave RUNNER a -1 content score and a four-out-of-four for entertainment quality, advising caution for violence while praising its strong moral worldview and theme of kindness.
Santoro’s other credits include Karl in LOVE ACTUALLY and Xerxes in 300, along with work in HBO’s WESTWORLD.
Santoro said viewers still approach him as Karl from LOVE ACTUALLY, the role he discussed with humor while looking back at the possibility of a sequel. That lighthearted detour shows how RUNNER extends a career that has moved from romance to historical spectacle to high-stakes action.
Santoro’s answer keeps RUNNER from becoming only a race between cars, guns and a ticking clock. It presents the medical delivery as a test of whether people will protect a vulnerable life even when danger makes retreat the easier choice.
That focus gives Movieguide® readers something to consider alongside the action: courage grows visible when ordinary people choose responsibility over self-preservation. With Santoro’s complicated antagonist adding moral tension, RUNNER invites audiences to watch not only who survives the chase, but also which choices the story treats as worth making.
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