Avatar: The Last Airbender star Ian Ousley has nabbed the lead role in The Runner, a short film about a grief-stricken man haunted by his past from music video director Tony Tacheny.
Ousley plays Everett, a man living out of his van as he struggles to cope with the death of his wife, Abigail, played by Preslea Elliot. Isolated from friends and family, Everett is haunted by memories of traveling around the world in his van with his brother Cameron (Chasen Parker) and his late wife.
“The story of The Runner deals with how we experience traumatic events in our lives. It is so relatable and I’m grateful that Tony entrusted me with Everett as the film is such a personal story for Tony. This was the most challenging role I’ve taken on so far,” Ousling said in a statement.
Tacheny, a music video director, helmed The Runner as an exploration of grief, memory and the difficult path to healing. “I think that men are conditioned to not talk about their pain and loneliness, but there’s a lot of power in embracing vulnerability. I was amazed to see how Ian and Chasen delivered such nuanced performances of these complicated characters. They had chemistry as only brothers could have,” the short’s director said in a statement.
Ousley starred as Sokka, the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live action series, a reimagining of the original Nickelodeon animated series. His other screen credits include Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, CBS’ Young Sheldon, Apple TV+’s Physical and the Elizabeth Olsen-led indie series Sorry for Your Loss.
Elliott played the role of Olivia in the short film Growers, while Parker will appear in the upcoming season of Hulu’s Everyone Is Doing Great. Tacheny has helmed music videos for artists like The Chainsmokers and is set to direct a full album of music videos and content for UK pop star Gracey.
Ousley is represented by Mosaic, Skrzyniarz & Mallean and Imprint. Parker is represented by Gersh Agency, Death Wish Entertainment and Mortimer PR. Elliott is represented by Midnight Management.
