Ritchson Brings New Jack Reacher To Amazon
Los Angeles, Feb 5: Those who are familiar with Tom Cruise’s cinematic take on Jack Reacher from Lee Child’s best-selling books are likely going to notice one thing about Alan Ritchson’s version of the bruising hero: He’s a lot bigger.
The character who is 6’5 in the books, considerably taller than Cruise (5’7) will now be portrayed by the “Titans” alum in the new Amazon series titled “Reacher” in what is a much more faithful adaptation of the character.
Adapted from Child’s first Reacher book — 1997’s The Killing Floor — the eight-episode serial will take on the character in what could be a multi-season run on the OTT platform.
With his military career over, the first season finds Reacher teaming up with two local cops (Scream’s Willa Fitzgerald and iZombie’s Malcolm Goodwin) after he stumbles on a dark conspiracy in a small Georgia town reeling from its first murder in 20 years. Ritchson who was unfamiliar with the titanic investigator from Child’s books did his work on the character when he got the part, as he quickly devoured all the titles in the series.
“All I had ever really heard about the books was about the action side of things,” Ritchson told the Sun in a video call from Los Angeles. “I was surprised at how funny Reacher is.”
Falling in love with the character he campaigned hard to get the role once it became clear a third movie with Cruise would not be going ahead. Child knew Ritchson was the right pick the moment he saw him. “That’s what thrilled me about Alan. The minute I saw him, he nailed it,” the writer told the Sun in a separate interview.
Ritchson, who is also known for playing Aquaman on CW’s “Smallville “ and appearing as Gloss in “The Hunger Games” , avoided watching the Cruise movies from 2012 and 2016.
“I want people to get lost in this journey,” he said. “I really poured myself into the work — the 24 books, the short stories — I’ve read it all. That’s what the fans deserve.”
He further said “I want to be as authentic as possible, and I don’t want to be ridiculed by the many die-hard fans who are going to remember that detail from the book and think that we got it wrong.”
