When actor Ryan Sands saw Geoffrey Wilder, the character he would eventually play on Hulu’s The Runaways and how closely they resembled one another Sands knew he couldn’t mess up his audition:
“It’s a big thrill! The little kid inside of me is really happy. I’m a nerd when it comes to this stuff. I’ve been a comic book fan, especially Marvel, since I was a little kid. So just to be able to have an opportunity to play in this world is just crazy.”
Although he wasn’t really reading comics in the early 2000s when The Runaways came out, he was still familiar with it. When he got the audition notice, he knew, based upon the description of “a group of kids, a group of parents” and the multiracial makeup of the characters” that the audition was in fact for The Runaways.
Sands went back and read the source material and familiarized himself with the comics without overindulging in it. He knew, of course, that the writers for the show were different than those from the comics which meant their vision for the show was likely to be different.
“I wanted to read just the first issue to familiarize myself with it, but I kind of got into it so I ended up reading the whole volume. I just had to focus a little harder on the audition just to see who this Geoffrey was instead of what I’d been reading. It’s not too much of a difference in the way the character communicates, but there are some really cool differences between the comics and what we’re doing in the show.”
The Runaways is an adaptation of Brian K Vaughn’s comics by the same name. The story follows a group of six teenagers who discover their parents are villains and also part of a mysterious, evil group called The Pride. The teenagers are the heroes of the series, who eventually come to discover that they have special powers/ abilities.
Being the first Marvel show on the streaming platform Hulu has allowed for The Runaways to not only take on a different feel than the comics, but also of many of the other Marvel shows already in existence. Unlike the comics, the series also explores the parents in more depth, thus presenting them as more than villains. According to Sands:
“Our show has its own distinct look, sound. The feel of the show, the rhythm of the show is different than all of the other shows. We’re largely people who made a bad decision about 15 or so years ago. Once we made that initiative decision we’re in too deep. We can’t get out of it and we have to compromise our morals, compromise what we hold dear in order to keep our loved ones safe and to just carry out our mission.”
Sands plays Geoffrey Wilde, a real estate developer and member of the Pride who must work at keeping his “checkered past” away from his family. This is an element that makes the character more appealing to Sands.
“I think my way into that character and how he really felt about his family and his community. I’m basically really a family oriented type of person. The fact that Geoffrey’s actions, at least when we see him in the present day, is all about keeping the family safe, keeping the family together, keeping the family away from bad decisions and stuff. I get that because I don’t think there’s a whole lot out here more important than family and cultivating a strong family and strong communication in that family. So that aspect of his character was an easy way for me to get in there and figure out who this dude was.”
When the show wrapped up its first season, it was picked up for a second season premiering in October. Down the road, Sands says it will be interesting to see how Geoffrey’s actions have an effect on his family, especially his son Alex.
“In episode five of the first season we see that I made a deal with someone to take care of them. We didn’t see that I didn’t live up to that deal and because of that my son is put in danger. It’s an ongoing thing at this point so absolutely my character’s past actions have really fed into the relationship with Alex. I’m really excited to see in what direction that goes because the dude who I did wrong on the show is not happy and it is his goal to take me down. I’m sure he’s going to try to use my son to do that.”
As for his character, Sands would like to see his character develop some sort of powers. In the midst of all the craziness the show has to offer (powers, dinosaurs, and aliens), Sands would also like to explore more of Geoffrey as a husband and father. Also to see what makes him tick.and his reasoning behind some of the decisions he’s made that he now has to pay for.
What will happen in season two of The Runaways remains to be seen, but for now all ten episodes from the first season are available for streaming on Hulu.
Creative credits
- Written by
- Jasmine Smith
- Photography
- JOYSTYLE
