The Runarounds

The Runarounds are a band whose music bleeds past the script, where the stage becomes a shrine to friendship. This is a story being lived in real time, following a group of friends stepping into adulthood, chasing dreams, and sometimes tripping over them. Where sacrifice is learned in laughter, in heartbreak, and in the unknown of giving everything for the sake of writing love songs that change the world. You know the chemistry on the silver screen isn’t staged, especially when you hear sentiments like “You sounded like a young Justin Bieber,” and know they mean it as the highest of compliments.

In The Runarounds, William Lipton, Axel Ellis, Jesse Golliher, Zendé Murdock, and Jeremy Yun each play characters that mirror pieces of themselves. Charlie, Neil, Wyatt, Bez, and Topher aren’t just roles the actors are playing; they’re reflections. Fragments of the band members’ own stories and versions of who they are bleed into every performance. The line between art and life blurs, letting vulnerability slip through the cracks and transforming the show into something less like fiction and more like a living, shared moment.

At its core, The Runarounds is a living reminder that embracing adulthood is less about arriving somewhere and more about travelling together. Watching them is like eavesdropping on something special, found not in the spotlight but in the quiet, unguarded moments between laughter and failure. The band teaches us that friendships are stitches in a tapestry of trust, woven through the shared pursuit of something worth giving everything for.

The Runarounds is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Can you each describe your first impression of another group member and how that impression is different from how they actually are?
Zendé to Axel: Do you want to start us off?
Axel: I met Jeremy in Charleston. They flew us all out, and the first day we met, we played music together to see if we would gel in any way. I just started talking to Jeremy, and it was like walking into a conversation that we already had going. There was not really a beginning to it; we were immediate friends, which sounds surprising.
Zendé: I will say my first impression of Axel. I was also in Charleston on the same trip. I was in a hotel room very similar to this one, with a guy very similar to that one [points to Axel sitting next to him on their hotel bed], and he showed me a song named “Existential Crisis.”
Jesse: I remember that one.
Zendé: It’s by [his band] Ax and the Hatchetmen. My first impression was that. Number one, I thought, Holy shit. The guy is an amazing songwriter. I don't feel this way nowadays, but when I first met him five years ago, he sounded a little bit like a young Justin Bieber.
Axel: Oh, yeah!
Zendé: As he's gotten older, it's changed a little bit, but back then it sounded like the old Biebs.
Axel: That’s so sweet.
Jeremy: I love it. Jesse remains one of the funniest people I know, and it's been that way since we met. His timing and humour remain incredible. I mean, this kid is just a smiling face, too. When we met, we were in the middle of the pandemic, and not a lot of us had a lot of social interaction. So, as Axel said, it just kind of felt like we were picking up from where we left off. We had a lot of fun that day. Later on that day, we practised pieces of media that would hopefully become an audition process. We were doing a scene from Almost Famous.
All: Yeah!
Jeremy: Jesse and I had to do a yelling match scene, which was so hilarious and fun looking back at it. Jesse and I picked up very quickly.
Will: I’ve known Jer a long time and have been playing with him in various groups for the same amount of time. When I first met the boys, I felt the same sense of familiarity that I had when I played with Jer back in the early days—that immediate chemistry on and off our instruments. They were also a year and some change older than me, so I thought they were so, so cool. Still being in high school and seventeen, I was like, “Wow, these dudes are real rockers.”

Aww, that’s great.
Jesse: Does that mean it’s my turn? Zendé was the first person I met on the project. I had flown to Charleston in 2020, and he was sitting outside the hotel, and we just started talking. Neither of us knew what we were really there for, you know? And he mentioned he liked the band…Can I say which band?
Zendé: Yeah! Absolutely, absolutely.
Jesse: He mentioned he liked 5 Seconds of Summer. And I was like, okay! And then we proceeded to share a hotel room for the next five years. From that moment, we were buddies, and that's how I ended up in the show too, which is funny.
Axel: I want to throw in my first impression of meeting Will. I met Will in Charleston, the same day I met everybody else. I don't know if we even said hi. I think he just smelled me and then guessed the cologne I was wearing.
Jesse: Did he get it right?
Axel: No, he didn't get it right. He tried two more times and then went, “Ahh, damnit. Hi, I’m Will.”
Will: Mannnnn, I knew it was Gucci Guilty, I was just blanking because I was nervous. When I met Ax, I was so excited. I had been pregaming the audition with everyone’s music, and it was really cool to come into the process with a glimpse of their musical background. Axel still smells great to this day!

The show opens with a group of friends graduating from high school and stepping into the unknown. In your own lives, when did you first feel like you were really entering the “real world”?
Jesse: Getting kicked off my free health care when I got a job. I have to pay for my health insurance now.
Axel: How am I still on my parents' health plan? Damn.
Zendé: Hell yeah. Stay on that as long as possible.
Jesse: Taxes. The government takes half your money.
Axel: That’s a good one for sure.
Zendé: Everyone runs into that at one point, the ol’ tax game.
Axel: I think for me, not to get too depressing, but in high school, I was always like, Wow, I can't wait to get out of this drama bullshit of people being mean to one another, and having cliquey circles. Then you realise that it just never ends. You graduate, and it's the same. It's almost worse; That is the music world too. It's all about who you know. That was crushing to me. But anyway…[laughs]
Zendé: Good answer!
Will: Unlike Charlie, I did attend college for music at USC. I have a very vivid memory of moving in with my mom and spending the whole day with her. That final goodbye was so gut-wrenching, but also beautiful. It felt like a new beginning. Everything my mama and dad raised me on was ready to be applied. But it definitely was an “Oh, shit” moment. Fortunately, my mama and I call like every day, so I feel very well-advised navigating this crazy world.

One of the great beauties of the show is how it displays the meaning of finding family outside of bloodlines, through friendship and sometimes romantic relationships. How has being a part of this band and show shaped your idea of found family?
Zendé: Good question.
Jesse: I think I've always found family with my friends, especially in playing music. Your interests and hobbies can align you with people who make you feel seen. I've had three interests my entire life: skateboarding, video games and music. I've made all my friends through those three things, and that's who I live with these days. Pursuing your dreams comes along with the friends you take along the way. I’m sorry, that was terrible.
Zendé: I liked it.
Axel: “Pursuing your dreams comes with the friends you take along the way.” I like it, put that on my grave. That's gonna be a song.
Jeremy: That is going to be a song lyric.
Zendé: To add on to that, I think that being in a band, whether it's in the show world or the normal world, you're almost marrying your bandmates. You're putting so much of your career in the hands of other people. It's a whole partnership. If you want to be successful, you have to make it work. There's no way not to be a family in that you have to lock it in; otherwise, you won’t make it anywhere.
Will: I’ve met the greatest people through the arts. That common goal of creating is primal and deep within our DNA as humans. I’ve been playing with Jeremy since age six. Literally all my most cherished memories in music have been by his side. He’s a brother and I’m so grateful we had music to be that tie.

Yeah, it seems really intense. Speaking of which, when you’re fully immersed in the world of your characters, their struggles, their relationships, their choices, how do you stay grounded in yourself? Do you have rituals or reminders that keep “you” separate from the role?
Jeremy: Yeah, we had an incredible acting coach in one of our dear friends, Rus Blackwell, who gave me a lot of things to do away from set, too. Just taking a deep breath and truly finding ways to listen to your scene partner got me 80% of the way there. I still have a lot of work to do on the acting, but listening really helps me become present to what my character wanted in that moment. Rus got us doing a lot of things like meditation. Of course, the burpees. We did a bunch of improv around our scenes to help us be present and understand themes more than specific words.
Jesse: I feel like this is very anti-method-acting, but I just like to keep it between action and cut. The second the camera cuts, you're back to being whoever you are, you know? Maybe that made me a bad actor, but…
Axel: I think I was the opposite of that in certain ways. They really wrote my character with a lot of my own mannerisms. Between scenes, I would bike to the beach as much as I could to clear my head. I would make playlists going into emotional scenes and listen to them all day and all week, to get into the headspace. It was music I was listening to in high school. I tried to blur the lines as much as possible, so that I didn't really have to slip into a different character.
Zendé: I did the same thing. I purposely tried to blur those lines because I felt like I wasn't a strong enough actor to be able to not do that. I was like, if I'm gonna make it believable, it's just got to be me. Bez, despite being a little bit of an asshole, made a lot of the decisions that I wish I had made at his age. So in a way, I was able to lean into wanting to be my character.
Will: There are definitely many ways to get to that flow state when it comes to acting and portraying a character. At the root of it for me was keeping it fun, always. There are definitely moments in a season when the pressure is on: going overtime, weather, overnights. But if you lean into the people and the joy of the craft, the work will shine through. Rus was a big proponent of that—always keeping things in perspective and making sure we were all just playing!

I was really impressed because I had no idea you guys came from no acting background. I think all your methods are working!
All: Thank you! We appreciate it.

Has playing your characters helped you discover something new about yourself?
Zendé: Bez is very extroverted and says whatever's on his mind. I learned a little bit from my character in terms of just approaching things head-on. I have a habit of beating around the bush.
Jesse: I learned how to do drugs. No, no, I am just kidding.
[all laugh]
Jesse: It's really interesting because I don't see myself as a very shy, reserved person at all. I feel like the opposite of my character. I'm talking all the time in real life, but in the show, I don't talk a lot, so I learned how to keep my mouth shut to a degree.
Axel: My character goes with the flow. Sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn't. But I think things not working out is necessary sometimes to get closer to things working out. So, it just reassured me not to overthink and to soak up as much good as I can within every situation.
Jeremy: I'm also somewhat of an overthinker, if you will. My character acts a little bit more on impulse than I do. So, it translated to the scenes. I just reacted to what was going on in front of me, rather than thinking about where I needed to place my foot in the shot, etc. That wasn't always the case, but that continued exercise of trying to be present manifests itself in multiple ways.
Will: Something I learned from Charlie is to dare to dream. As corny as it sounds, up to this point, I’ve always been a bit cautious. In high school, I thought I would go into medicine or something. It was people's faith in me to chase the dream that gave me the confidence. Since then, I’ve tried to express that faith more to myself and others around me. The dream doesn’t happen alone!

Thank you for sharing. So now I have some fun questions, if that’s cool with you guys?
Axel: Yesss!
Zendé: Let’s go!
Jesse: Let’s get into it.

If you could write a love song about Wilmington, what would it be called?
Zendé: Wilmy-wood
Jeremy: I thought you were going to say, “On The Beach.”
Zendé, Jeremy, and Jesse: [all sing]
[Axel is writing a song based on Wilmington, NC, but the name shall remain a secret]

Which character is your secret favourite?
Zendé, Axel, Jesse, Jeremy: Pete!
Jesse: Pete or Amanda.
Axel: I also really like Spider.
Will: My sister [in the show], Tatum [Willa Dunn], crushed it. I also am a Maximo [Salas] superfan, so Pete is also my fav.

I personally love Bender…
Axel: She can’t be a secret favourite, though; she’s just an obvious first-place contender.

Yeah, you’re so right. Okay, so while you guys were filming in Wilmington, what was an experience that made you smile, or helped you get through a hard day?
Zendé: That’s a tough one. A memory that’s niche to the old Carolina…
Jeremy: Palm Room?
Jesse: Yeah, that’s a good one. That’s funny.
Axel: We played at this fucking beach bar called The Palm Room, like, six times. It's so nice, but it was hot and sweaty every time. It definitely still managed to make me smile at the end of the day. We would switch it up. Every week, we got to mess around, and workshop things we were doing on the show and covers that we would need to play. It was like a band practice live. I was, various levels of under the influence during those shows. But they were fun.
Jesse: Very nice beach bar experience. Those Budweisers, though, are fucking insane.
Zendé: Yeah, that’s something to smile about.
Will: Another activity we’d do while in Wilmington was to go to this place called WalkerWorld. It was this massive property with barns and sculptures built by a family that Marley [Aliah] was friends with. We’d go there after shows and just enjoy the summer. We eventually filmed parts of Episode Five there, so you can kind of see where we were hanging out.

Speaking of something that brings you joy, what is your guilty pleasure music that you listen to when no one else is around, other than Five Seconds of Summer….
[Jesse laughs]
Zendé: That ain’t guilty, I will play that on any speaker!
Jeremy: Yeah, also not feeling guilty about this, but EDM, Calvin Harris, Kygo, all the hitters.
Jesse: I really like Taylor Swift. I’m sorry, I do like it.
Axel: You don’t have to apologise.
Jesse: Yeah, I love the country girl Taylor Swift.
Axel: I used to really like all the boy bands, which works out now. I remember liking The Vamps a lot. I love the singer, Brad [Simpson]'s voice. One Direction, sometimes. Five Seconds of Summer and The Vamps.
Will: Too many to list. I love Phoenix, I think they’re so timeless and unique. I’m big on late 90s early 2000s bands, that’s my biggest source of inspiration. But I love it all, from Motown to Metal.
Zendé: I like folk music, I’m not ashamed of that, though. You're driving from Atlanta to Charleston. You're hitting the back roads. You're going through the country throwing a little folk. The sun's going down. It's great work.
Axel: Throw on some Gregory Alan Isakov!

I love folk music too. Maybe there is no guilty pleasure music.
Axel: No, it's great.

If you guys were turned into a musical instrument, what instrument would you turn into?
Jesse: French horn.
[all laugh]
Axel: Because it’s the longest one? They can unravel to be like sixteen feet or something.
Jesse: Yeah, it’s because I am actually six feet in real life.
Axel: That’s bullshit, um….
Zendé: I want to be…
Jeremy: That would make me 7’3”
Zende: I want to be a mandolin. Nice. Not that anything about me screams mandolin, but that's what I want to be. I want to be a mandolin.
Jesse: Wait, can I change my answer?

Yes, of course.
Jesse: I would be a harmonica.
Axel: There you go, nice. Jesse, what are the ones that you would just do with your hands?
Jesse: Theremin.
Axel: I'd be a theremin.
Zendé: Those are cool.
Jeremy: Zendé always tells me I am wrong for thinking this, but in another life, I would be a drummer…
Zendé: This isn’t what you are, though; this is what instrument you would be.
Jesse: I feel like you’d be a clarinet.
Jeremy: No, I’m the drums.
Will: I’m the accordion!

I thought this was funny, but I also want to know your honest opinion of it. Do you believe that love songs can change the world?
Axel: I think it's like aliens, it would be crazy to think that they haven't already, right? Right? I mean, “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles! There have been so many Renaissance periods in which love brings people together at the worst points of humanity. I think, of course, love songs can change the world. That’s my answer. Otherwise, I’d be a plumber.
Jeremy: I have nothing to add. That was a great answer.
Will: I think when you look at any big arena act from any era and see all those people there to share in an experience rooted in music and love, that’s all the evidence you need.

Perfect. Looking back at this journey from 2020 to now, what piece of advice would you give yourself looking back at that version from five years ago?
Jesse: Get a job! Everything is always six months away.
Axel: These are some depressing answers we’re throwing out here…
Zendé: Yeah, it’s true.
Axel: Don’t tell your friends or anyone at a party until it actually happens.
Jesse: Yeah, because on my Hinge profile, man, I’ve just got nothing but “Future Actor.”
[all laugh]

Moving away from the past, what advice would you ask yourself five years from now?
Jesse: “Did you save your money?”
[all laugh]
Axel: Five years from now? That’s a good question. I would ask, “Are you happy?”
Jeremy: Yeah, I agree. Although it took more years than we thought it would to get from point A to point B, I think those kids back in 2020 are really happy with everything overall. So, I hope that the kids in 2030 are still happy.
Zendé: What do I want to ask him? Oh man.
Axel: “Did you grow taller?”
Zendé: I’m 23. I don’t think I am growing much taller any time soon. I guess I would ask how much of a boy band we really are. “Are we a real band in any capacity?” I want to know if we made it.
Will: “Can I grow a beard yet?” I’m trying to book a Viking role one day.

Nice! Who are some creative inspirations that have gotten you to this point? It could be other storytellers, actors, musicians, or a role model that you really value.
Jesse: I got started on Kurt Cobain, Nirvana. That transformed into a lot of the Boston indie bands and post-hardcore bands out of Philadelphia. I wanted to be the next My Chemical Romance. And…I got a job as an actor!
Axel: Same difference.
Zendé: Great bands.
Jeremy: Insanely good bands.
Zendé: I liked Paramore a lot when I was growing up. I still do now, but they’re not as “rocky” as they were back in the day. I grew up in Amsterdam, and my dad is a rock musician, so there were not a whole lot of other influences pointing me towards rock other than my dad. He showed me the 2009 Brand New Eyes Paramore album when I was six or seven, and it rocked my little world. It’s still my favourite album to this day.
Axel: I'm with Zendé. My dad put me on to music. I mean, the Beatles were, like, my nursery rhymes when I was tiny. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. That's ground zero to me. And Sam Cooke. If I could work half as hard as my dad, then I think I'm doing pretty alright.
Jesse: You totally are, dude. You are on tour with two different bands.
Axel: Thanks, Jesse. I’m working all the time, but it’s not quite as gruelling as stripping a log cabin and then doing that for fifty plus years. I'm trying to make it up in any way I can.
Jeremy: Let's go, yeah. I was raised on a combination of Van Halen, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin. I haven't exactly done the makeup thing, but I don't know. They’re showmen. They're entertainers. As a six-year-old with access to YouTube, it was hard not to watch videos of Kiss with flamethrowers.
Will: I’m pretty similar to Jer since we grew up playing together. I love The Beatles as well; they’re the blueprint. Chris Martin from Coldplay has always been one of my favourite songwriters. I always loved composers too, like John Williams or Howard Shore. I love where music and film intersect, and the fact that we kind of got to score our own show was a dream come true.

Wait, that's cool. You guys listen to cool music. I listened to Maroon 5 growing up.
Zendé: Maroon 5 is cool.
Jeremy: Yeah, I agree.
Axel: Their first album is really good.
Zendé: We covered “Sunday Morning”! It’s one of the first songs we played together.

Speaking of covers, I have to ask you guys about “Valerie” because you guys killed that. How did you make it your own?
Zendé: We made it very us. There was a cover that our director, Jonas [Pate], had sent us of a rock band doing the song. So we pulled bits and pieces from their cover, and then, just “Runarounded” it to play it. We had a very limited amount of time to do that. We were talking the night before shooting it. It was us in our little clubhouse after already shooting for the day, trying to squeeze it in late at night. We took about an hour and a half, threw something together, and shot it the next day.
Axel: It really was true to the episode. We're figuring out how to play it in the show. I think it's a rite of passage cover. I've seen so many bands play that song, and so it felt fun to represent that on screen, but also it didn't seem like too much out of a guitar band's wheelhouse.

That's always my go-to karaoke song. Okay, well, that was my last question.
All: No!

I know I'm having so much fun, but do you guys want to add anything else?
Jesse: Please watch it so we can get a season two!