Theatre Faculty Appear in Amazon Prime Show

Tuning in to The Runarounds, Amazon Prime’s new Wilmington-set show about the rollercoaster summer of a fledgling rock band, will turn up a couple of friendly faces in the UNCW community.

Jack Landry and Ed Wagenseller, both faculty in the Department of Theatre, have their moments on screen in the pilot episode as the band leaves their high school. It’s easy to recognize New Hanover High School as Landry half-heartedly scolds one member on the rooftop and Wagenseller sends off the graduating class from the gym. And a number of UNCW students show up in the background of the show, too.

“It’s always fun to encourage students to go and be an extra, but they find that there’s a lot of sitting around and waiting,” Landry laughed.

He and Wagenseller credited showrunner Jonas Pate, also of Outer Banks fame, for leading a project that’s rich with Wilmington talent and filming locations.

“I think the best part is the homegrown aspect and the nod to Wilmington. We’re not trying to pretend this is another place — that’s how this really differs from some of the other projects filmed here,” Wagenseller said.  

Only a snippet of Wagenseller’s improvised speech as principal ended up making it into the final version of the episode … but such is the life of a day player, he said. Both he and Landry said they’re glad The Runarounds takes full advantage of Wilmington’s potential as a competitive film hub, and celebrated North Carolina’s $20 million investment in the film industry less than two weeks after the show’s premiere.