The 'ordinary' Arnie? Glen Powell reboots 'The Running Man'

It is often said Hollywood doesn't produce movie stars anymore. So when someone with a square jaw and loads of charisma like Glen Powell is cast in Arnold Schwarzenegger's role for a reboot of "The Running Man," people get excited.

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But Powell, an unfailingly courteous Texan, who quit the Los Angeles life and moved home to Austin as his fame grew, is having none of it.

"I don't find myself to be exceptional," the 37-year-old told AFP. "That era of action stars and movie stars? You can't really compare apples to oranges."

His role in the new "Running Man," out in cinemas today, is certainly a far cry from the indestructible bluster of Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson's 20th-century action heroes, who were usually soldiers, cops and trained fighters.

Powell's protagonist Ben Richards is an everyman, with no special skills beyond a rugged toughness and a very short fuse. He reluctantly enters a deadly game show in which the entire world is trying to kill him: he needs to survive long enough to win prize money and buy lifesaving medicine for his daughter.

"I've always identified myself as an underdog," Powell said. "Some of my favorite movies are ordinary people against extraordinary odds. And you don't get more ordinary than Ben."