Movies - TV
Amazon Originally Didn't Want To Cast Alan Ritchson As Jack Reacher
By JOE ROBERTS
Season 1 of Prime Video’s "Reacher" proved to be a huge hit, and much of that likely had to do with the striking presence of series lead Alan Ritchson, who used his imposing frame and impressive physique to portray Reacher. The character was always supposed to be a giant, hulk of a man, and Ritchson feels like an obvious choice, but even he wasn't initially deemed right for the part.
Ritchson fit the profile of Reacher, but it seems that wasn't enough to convince the casting producers. The actor said, "I'm not exactly six foot five and I'm not exactly 250, and I had heard that they were being very specific with their physical demands. [...] I auditioned for the part and it was good, it was just that my take on it was a little different than what they had in mind, at the time."
Eventually, a change behind the scenes led to his selection during a second audition. Ritchson explained, "There was a shake-up with who was casting, so they started again from scratch [...] when they came back around, they picked a few tapes that they'd seen already, and I was one of them, so they wanted me to come back and try again, and it worked out."