Glen Powell, who is gearing up for the release of his actioner, The Running Man, has one main reason for doing his own stunts in films—respect for the audience's time and money.

Speaking to the Saturday Guardian magazine, Powell reasoned, "It really sells it because if the audience knows that you are in peril, there is an inherent investment. I believe you have to give the audience their value in the ticket. If people are actively going to the (cinema), getting a babysitter, maybe doing dinner, you've got to justify that ticket price.” He further added that he does not want CGI stunts to evoke a feeling of emptiness in the audiences.

In the adaptation of Stephen King's The Running Man, a second adaptation after Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 film, Powell is set to be seen in non-stop stunts as the story demands. Having worked with Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, he looks at the actor as a role model for doing one's own stunts. "And that's what Tom (Cruise) always talks about; you have to have skin on the line. If they're showing up for you, you've got to show up for them," he added.

While speaking about Tom Cruise, Powell couldn't help but mention how helpful the veteran actor was for The Running Man. "The fact that Tom is such a close friend now – when I got The Running Man, he was literally my first call. I said, 'Dude, you've been doing this for decades’. He has picked up every trick in the book."

But that's not all, as Cruise also had a detailed conversation with Powell about the film's action sequences. He detailed, "And he's so generous; I thought I was going to talk to him for 10 minutes. He stayed on the phone for two hours plus. He's like, 'Tell me some of the stunts you're doing’. I said, 'OK, I'm jumping off exploding bridges, falling off roofs’. He said, 'Are you running at night?' Yes. 'OK, that means you'll probably wrap at five in the morning. Don't do any sprinting shots at five in the morning. Your body's going to be out of whack, and you'll get hurt. They're always going to do a wetdown at night.’ So Tom says, 'That's fine if you're running straight. If you're taking a corner, no’. He goes, 'If you're hanging 11 storeys up, make sure people see how high you are. Make sure the shot reflects depth and dimension. You are selling the fact that you are doing these things."

Directed by Edgar Wright and co-written with Michael Bacall, The Running Man reimagines Stephen King’s dystopian story, about a man forced to compete in a deadly game show where contestants are hunted for sport. Powell takes on the role of Ben Richards, the character made iconic by Schwarzenegger in the original.

The upcoming action thriller also stars Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, William H Macy, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, and Jayme Lawson. Wright and Bacall previously collaborated on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). The Running Man hits theatres on November 14.