This story contains spoilers for the fifth episode of Run.
For a show that began as a kind of episodic version of Before Sunrise, introducing two not-quite-strangers on a train and exploring their complicated history together, Run certainly took a turn on Sunday night. With Ruby (Merritt Wever) and Billy (Domhnall Gleeson) off the train and pursuing Fiona (Archie Panjabi) and her bag of Billy ’s money, the three converge in an empty farmhouse and confront each other about the various lies that got them to this point. Then, after an offscreen struggle with Billy, Fiona winds up out the window—and impaled on some inconveniently placed farm equipment.
All that and a cameo from series co-executive producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge! Yet the most gripping moment of the episode might be a near-silent moment with Wever, on the phone with her husband, Laurence (Rich Sommer), immediately after she and Billy find Fiona’s body. “I remember shooting that scene that day, and it was a big deal,” Wever said in a recent phone call. “And worrying, starting to feel at that moment untethered somehow. I don’t know that was so inappropriate, given what was happening.”
Though the show has yet to show Ruby and Laurence in a scene together, Wever dove deep into the backstory of their relationship, imagining Laurence as someone who had rescued Ruby from a low moment in her life, making her feel indebted, maybe, more than in love. “I think she has outgrown the need for that person in her life, and she has stayed stuck in a relationship and a situation that makes her small and powerless,” Wever said. “I just remember wanting to be able to bring in some of those colors or a little bit of that element on the phone with Laurence, in that moment of knowing that she was going to have to let herself go back there. And Laurence is telling her what to do, and she’s kind of letting him.”
But as soon as the phone call is over, Wever said, Ruby jumps into a wildly different dynamic with Billy— “this kind of Lady Macbeth slash mothering role,” washing away his vomit and rushing them away from the crime scene, taking action when he can’t. That leads them right into Laurel’s car, with Waller-Bridge adopting an American accent—and a semi-disturbing interest in taxidermy—to briefly shake Ruby and Billy out of their trauma. “I loved Fleabag so much, and it was fascinating to get a little glimpse into the way her brain worked creatively,” Wever said, careful not to reveal if Waller-Bridge might appear in future episodes as well. “It works very quickly. It’s very fast, and it’s like a very fast and powerful machine, but it’s also very generous. I think it’s lovely to have both of those qualities at the same time.”
Run was created by Vicky Jones, who directed Waller-Bridge in the original theatrical run of Fleabag. Wever described her as a similarly generous spirit, though with the motivational qualities any actor might dream of in a director—or maybe actual psychic powers. “I remember sitting on my friend’s couch in L.A., and I checked my email, and I got this little check-in email from her, and it was short and to the point, but lovely. And without my knowing it, it kind of gave me everything that in that moment I needed,” Wever said, remembering a moment of self-doubt near the end of production on Run. “I think she wrote just something on the lines of just checking in, you are doing great, we are almost there. And she wrote, ‘Hold your nerve.’ I didn’t know that that’s what I needed to hear to get me through the last episode. I think I took [it] to mean: ‘Don’t stop leaping forward. Don’t let your fear start to cripple you now.’”
Run has two more episodes, airing the next two Sundays on HBO. Hear much, much more of our conversation with Wever on the Little Gold Men podcast next month.
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