The playboy
Steven Wilde, played by Will Arnett
While it’s easy to label the two main characters, Arnett insists there will be plenty of opportunities for Steven to show his redeemable qualities — and Emmy to come off as less than pious. “We didn’t want them to be two-dimensional characters who were just standing for one thing. We wanted them to kind of both have sides to them,” Arnett says.
The humanitarian
Emmy Kadubic, played by Keri Russell
Not only are the main characters in “Running Wilde” seemingly complete opposites, this is a departure from the roles Russell, most notable as the star of the teen drama “Felicity,” usually takes. “I just wanted to be interested, and it was interesting to me,” Russell explains why she wanted to try her hand at a sitcom. “I’ve been reading a lot of film scripts that just — they were more of the same, and the type of movies I really did want to make weren’t being green-lit. This came my way, and it was just too good to pass up. And then I flew out and met [co-star Will Arnett and creator Mitch Hurwitz], and they were so wonderful. It was fresh and exciting, and I thought I’d try it.”
