Amazon Prime Video's The Runarounds features a real-life band playing fictionalized versions of themselves on-screen in an epic new musical teen drama. The new streaming series is anchored by several real-world band members of a musical group assembled by showrunner Joans Pate (Outer Banks). When Pate needed a rocking ensemble for an episode in Outer Banks Season 3, he brought the Runarounds' cast together for the first time; however, after seeing what he had with the team, he decided to center a show around them as well.
The new series follows a young Wilmington, North Carolina band in the summer after high school, deciding whether they want to go all the way with their musical pursuits or put down their instruments and get quote/unquote real jobs.
The Runarounds Season 1 is now streaming in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video, and no word on a second season has been made public yet. Pate has said that the lines between the series and reality will continue to blur, with hopes that the fictionalized band will release records before a potential second batch of episodes.
The Runarounds Real-Life Band Members vs Their On-Screen Counterparts
William Lipton - Charlie Cooper
Instagram: @williamlipton
William Lipton leads The Runarounds as Charlie Cooper—the band's charismatic guitarist, singer, and leader. In the series, Charlie is an outgoing aspiring musician who wants to take the band to the next level now that they have finished high school.
Unlike some of the other members of the Runarounds cast, Lipton is not exactly like his on-screen counterpart. Sure, he has singing experience, but, unlike Charlie, Lipton grew up in the spotlight. The Prime Video star previously appeared on General Hospital as Cameron Webber from 2018 to 2024.
However, that does not mean Lipton has nothing to draw upon for his take on the Runarounds' leading man. Just like his on-screen counterpart, the 22-year-old California native pushed to take his creative endeavors to the next level.
Lipton appeared as a teenager with his band on the Steve Harvey-produced Little Big Shots in 2016 before eventually starting his life as a professional actor with General Hospital. This Little Big Shots appearance served as the actor's proverbial 'big break,' as a talent scout at the show pushed him to take the leap and branch out into the acting world (via Soap Opera Digest).
Jesse Golliher - Wyatt Wysong
Instagram: @geskle
Jesse Golliher brings to life bassist Wyatt Wysong in the new streaming series. Golliher and his on-screen character are similar, both musically inclined from a young age.
Golliher is based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and has been a working musician for several years. The Runarounds star has released several EPs under his own name, taking inspiration mainly from the grunge rock gods of the early 1990s.
Speaking to Black Film and TV, Golliher broke down what he has in common with his on-screen counterpart, revealing that both he and Wyatt believe their "biggest saving grace... is [their] friends:"
"I'd say, Wyatt's biggest saving grace in his life is his friends. And that is how I have always felt. If you have good friends, you have got good family."
Axel Ellis - Neil Crosby
Instagram: @axelellis4
Every band needs a spiritual center, and Alex Ellis/Neil Crosby is that for The Runarounds, both on-screen and off. Ellis' Neil is the band's free-spirited secondary guitarist, helping to back up Charlie on-stage.
The Runarounds is Ellis' acting debut, but the actor has found slipping into the role of Neil relatively easy, as he sees a lot of the TV character in himself.
"I relate to my character a lot," Ellis told Black Film and TV, admitting he, too, was "kind of like a philosophical stonery dude" in high school:
"I relate to my character a lot. I totally relate to who my guy, Neil, is in high school. He is kind of like a philosophical stonery dude, and people call him the Buddha at school. And he is kind of a total hopeless romantic, which gets him into trouble. He loves music. He paints with his dad, and all that is pretty true to life growing up for me."
Like many of his bandmates, Ellis is also a real-life working musician. When he is not rocking out with The Runarounds, he plays in the band Ax and the Hatchetmen.
Zendé Murdock - Bez Willis
Instagram: @zendemurdock
Zendé Murdock plays Runarounds drummer Bez Willis in the new streaming series. Murdock has a long history of playing drums in various groups, but is currently devoted to The Runarounds full-time on and off-screen.
Like his TV character, Bez, Murdock is the beating heart of The Runarounds' music (literally and figuratively). When things get tense, Murdock's character is always there to break the tension while providing the backing beat to every group's original songs.
The Runarounds mark Murdock's first professional acting gig.
Jeremy Yun - Topher Park
Instagram: @jeremyyunofficial
Jeremy Yun (who plays Topher Park in the new series) has a unique connection to his Runarounds bandmates. In the series, Yun's Topher Park is an original member of its titular band, who begins to stray as the group's ambitions get bigger.
While his Topher Park is a work of fiction, his performance is anchored by a nugget of reality. In the same way that his character is childhood best friends with Runwarounds singer Charlie Cooper, Yun and Charlie actor William Lipton have been close for as long as they can remember.
Now, the pair of long-standing besties get to bring their friendship to life on-screen in the new series.
In a conversation with People, Lipton described the process of forming The Runarounds as "[getting] more best friends," with the Charlie star revealing that he and Yun were a "package deal" when auditioning for the project.
