Movies
The author of ‘Reacher’ admits that choosing Tom Cruise was a mistake and says: “He’s not scary”
Lee Child believes that Alan Ritchson was born to play Reacher.
Tom Cruise stepped into Reacher’s shoes in 2012’s Jack Reacher and its sequel, 2016’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016), an action saga based on Lee Child’s novels. However, the author of the books was not convinced by the choice of Cruise as the protagonist. In statements to The Independent, he has admitted that fans were right when they screamed to the skies with the choice of the actor.
“I thought the first movie in particular was excellent.It was a really crisp hard-edged thriller. Working with Tom was a pleasure and a privilege – he’s a really smart guy, he’s a smart filmmaker, he’s real fun. But you cannot escape the fact that Reacher is a huge guy.” In the books, he’s described as over six feet tall, while Tom Cruise is barely six feet tall. For Child, this is a crucial aspect: “He’s huge, he’s implacable, he’s scary, and for all Tom’s ability in getting the internals of Reacher out, he is not huge and he’s not scary.”
The actor in the series convinces him
When Tom Cruise was cast in the role, many fans disagreed, a fact the writer understands. “The readers were terribly upset about it and I think, ultimately, the readers were right.” Instead, Alan Ritchson stepped into Reacher’s shoes in the Amazon Prime Video series, a choice the author is very pleased with. “Alan was born to play Reacher and I think he knows that.” If he doesn’t reach the heights of his character, he comes close.
The ‘Jack Reacher’ movies are available on Paramount+, while the ‘Reacher’ series is available on Prime Video.
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