Alternate Song Choices: What Runarounds Nearly Sang Instead of Hannah Montana
The Runarounds season 1 finale showcased a memorable moment as the band united to sing Hannah Montana’s iconic track “The Climb” — but was this always the planned song?
In an exclusive chat with Us Weekly prior to the show’s premiere on Monday, September 1, William Lipton, Axel Ellis, Jeremy Yun, Zendé Murdock, and Jesse Golliher reminisced about at least one other song that was under consideration before landing on the Disney classic.
“I think it was ‘Waterfalls’ by TLC,” Ellis reflected, as Lipton chimed in, “I clearly remember [creator] Jonas [Pate] approaching some of us on set and saying, ‘This is what we’re doing. It’s going to be phenomenal.’”
Golliher noted there was “a list of songs to choose from” alongside “The Climb,” which Lipton deemed “by far the best” option for the poignant scene.
Derived from a teleplay by Outer Banks co-creator Pate and David Wilcox, the fictional series chronicles the real-life band of the same name. Lipton, Ellis, Yun, Murdock, and Golliher formed the musical group in 2021 after Pate put out a casting call for a band for Outer Banks. The Runarounds were selected from around 5,000 musicians who applied. The episode was filmed in 2022 as The Runarounds worked on an EP and toured.
“During our initial meeting, we jammed together,” Ellis shared with Us. “We also tried acting out some scenes, and we were lucky to have Mr. Chase Stokes there coaching us.”
He added: “It was our first real attempt at acting. His presence was invaluable; I’m not sure I’d be here without his guidance.”
Murdock shared additional thoughts on their brief crossover with Outer Banks in season 3, mentioning it was “not designed to be taken super seriously,” and explained, “That was more for our real-life experience and creativity. It doesn’t significantly tie into the universe.”
Alongside the musical group, The Runarounds also features Brooklyn Decker, Maximo Salas, Marley Aliah, Hayes MacArthur, Mark Wystrach, Shea Pritchard, Lilah Pate, and Kelley Pereira. J. Anthony Crane and Cullen Moss made guest appearances in roles distinct from their current characters on Outer Banks.
Yun expressed enthusiasm for further interactions between The Runarounds and Outer Banks characters:
“That’d be fantastic. It’d be a lot of fun,” he shared. “We would feel fortunate to collaborate with [them] as the universes are not currently linked.”
Viewers tuning into The Runarounds will be excited to know that Jonas confirmed in December 2024 that Prime Video had already greenlit a second season even before the show premiered. He also disclosed that he’s working on a prequel to Outer Banks, titled Kildare. This series is still in the planning phase but aims to feature a fresh cast of young actors, centering on the origins of each group in the show’s fictional Figure 8 community.
Outer Banks is currently available for streaming on Netflix, while The Runarounds can be watched on Prime Video.
