As literary heroes go, they don't get much bigger than Jack Reacher. Literally.
The creation of author Lee Child, Reacher is a six-foot, five-inch, 250-pound former military cop who travels from place to place and inevitably finds trouble along the way. He's been doing this over the course of 28 books and now two seasons of Reacher on Amazon Prime Video, which recently got renewed for a third season ahead of season two's December 14 premiere.
Alan Ritchson stars as Reacher, the second (and most physically like the one Childs envisioned) actor to play the punch-happy do-gooder in live-action form. (Tom Cruise first played the character in two movies.) With the second season — which adapts Childs' eleventh book, Bad Luck and Trouble — streaming now, Ritchson spoke with the Television Academy about what's in store for both the show and its hero.
Television Academy: Before you were cast, how familiar were you with the books and the character?
Alan Ritchson: I hadn't read the books yet or watched the movies. Until the [casting] process began, which then took like six, seven, eight months — something like that. It was during that span of time that I started to realize there was a real shot, and so I then read the books. I'm glad I did, but almost wish I hadn't, because I fell in love so much that I started to feel desperate for it. I was like, "I have to play this guy. This is the greatest character in the world."
So, I was happy to join the club, and hanging out with Lee during the process. I wouldn't say I became best friends with him, [more] like an adopted son at this point.
Were you aware of how many millions of people were fans of the books and loved the character?
I was constantly being reminded of it once we started [shooting] because, for probably the first half of the first season, there were maybe 15 people on set every day. And each wanted me to do it a different way. Like, "Do a take that's really funny," or someone else would think Reacher should be real menacing. So, I would have to do everything like 25 times, with completely different reads, because everybody had their version of Reacher in their minds. I've never had that kind of tinkering before. Honestly, that part of the process was fun, but it was a constant reminder that there is such pressure for everybody to get their version of Reacher on the screen. Season two was much more relaxed. Luckily for me, I had a huge amount of source material to absorb, which meant that there was also my version of Reacher. I'm open and available to my team's ideas, but my job is to block out the pressure and the expectations of the 200 million fans that have read the books, and just bring to life what I see as an authentic representation.
Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in the new season of Reacher
One of the things that's fascinating about the character is that he never really changes. Reacher is who he is, and he doesn't have an arc of any kind. That seems like it would be tricky to play.
It is tricky. There's a real finesse to finding that thing. It's funny — there's a scene in the second season that takes place in a pawn shop. Here, Reacher is acting as if he's somebody that he's not. In the real world, how do you — as somebody who's never changing — change just enough? That kind of scene, threading that particular needle is tough, and I think [it] really underscores just how careful you have to be with that kind of thing.
Nick Santora, our showrunner, said: "Reacher's a crocodile. Whether he's in Paris, in a flower shop, at a pawn shop, or on the gun range — he's a crocodile all the time." Meaning that the people around him change, but [Reacher] is who he is all the time. And that's really what we love about him. But yeah, it's tricky to keep that interesting.
The new season, which adapts the eleventh book, reunites Reacher with his special investigative unit from the army. We think of Reacher as the ultimate loner, but he's got a real supporting team around him this time.
And that's the genius of skipping to book 11. Whereas the first season did a take on the first book, Killing Floor, where we're getting familiar with Reacher, there's a lot of unfamiliarity in his world, too. With book 11, we can see what it looks like with Reacher's adoptive family and the familiarity that he has there, the shorthand that he has with the people he's fought and bled with. I think it's going to expand the mind of the audience so much to say, "Oh, look at all the possibilities for what Reacher can be."
There are 28 books. You've now done two. How many more do you think you'll get to do?
I think everybody's optimistic that we have lightning in a bottle with Reacher, but you know, we need audiences to show up. Hopefully, they'll show up and be just as entertained with the second season as they were with the first. That'll feed what we want to do, which is to tell every one of these stories. I don't want to stop doing this. This is the most fun I've ever had in my career, and this is my favorite character that I've had the chance to play.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Reacher is now streaming on Prime Video.
