Reacher is now celebrating great success with its third season on Amazon Prime Video. Before the series featuring Alan Ritchson, there were already two films with Tom Cruise. In an interview, the author of the books explained which actor he thinks is better for the role.
Who is the author of Reacher? Reacher is based on the Jack Reacher book series by author Lee Child. So far, 29 books have been published, with the 30th following in November 2025. Each book is a standalone story in which the titular ex-soldier, Jack Reacher, deals with suddenly emerging problems in various locations across the USA.
Even before the series, which is currently running its third season on Amazon Prime Video, there were two films with Tom Cruise that were released in 2012 and 2016. In an interview, Lee Child commented on who of the two is actually the better actor for the role. His clear favorite is Alan Ritchson. This is also due to his size.
Tom Cruise primarily lacks one thing: size
What does Lee Child say about the actors? In an interview with The Independent, the author spoke about the two actors and why he finds Alan Ritchson more suitable.
But one cannot escape the fact that Reacher is a big guy. […] It is part of his entire way of viewing the world and how the world sees him. He is huge, he is relentless, he is intimidating. And despite Tom’s ability to bring out Reacher’s inner self, he is not huge and not intimidating.
Nonetheless, he likes Tom Cruise and the films. He especially praises the first film as a sharp, hard-hitting thriller
and that Cruise is a smart guy and filmmaker. He also mentions that readers were not satisfied with the casting, and he believes they were right.
He finds Alan Ritchson perfect for the role, even stating Alan was born to play Reacher and he knows it.
Another challenge arose when a casting decision had to be made for the third season to find an actor to embody the character Paulie
, who had to be even taller than Alan Ritchson.
Despite the challenges, they found actor and bodybuilder Olivier Richters, who also appeared in the films Black Widow and The Kings Men.
What did Alan Ritchson do before Reacher? Ritchson probably had his big breakthrough with Reacher. One of his first appearances was in the series Smallville. After that, he had smaller roles in series and lesser-known films. His first significant role was in the series Blue Mountain State, which ran from 2010 to 2011. Other appearances included:
- The Hunger Games – Catching Fire (2013)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
- Titans (2018 – 2021)
- Fast and Furious 10 (2023)
His most recent film appearance was in 2024 in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Guy Ritchie. Although Reacher seems to be the perfect role for the actor, he still has one role he desperately wants to play: That’s why the Reacher star wants to play one of the most famous DC heroes ever
