Alan Ritchson’s role as Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher is the second iteration of the popular character. Based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, the first cinematic adaptation of the character was played by Tom Cruise in Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher and its sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
While Cruise’s iteration received mixed responses from the fans, Alan Ritchson’s depiction received better responses, especially for his look. The Titans star revealed that he channeled one character that he was inspired by Kevin Costner’s Waterworld during his audition for the series. He mentioned that the decision almost caused him to lose out on the role.
Alan Ritchson Was Initially Rejected By The Makers Of Reacher
Actor Alan Ritchson gained notoriety for his role as Aquaman in CW’s Smallville. After appearing in Titans as Hawk, Ritchson had his breakthrough with the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher. The show received positive responses from both critics and audiences alike, with Ritchson’s performance being lauded.
The Blue Mountain State star mentioned that he was first rejected by the crew after auditioning for the role. Despite being from a military background (he had a father in the forces) much like the character, Ritchson was reportedly rejected by a group that first did the audition. He said in an interview with Empire,
“They passed on me and everybody else that auditioned for this the first time around. There was nobody that they felt got it right. There was a different script, the very first time we auditioned, that went out to everybody that maybe could have been Reacher, or was the right size or shape or whatever. I think everybody auditioned.”
Ritchson then revealed that he got a call a few months later from the team as there was a new script and a new casing director. His audition tapes were reportedly reviewed again by the new casting director who found the actor to have traits of the character.
Alan Ritchson Was Inspired By Kevin Costner’s Waterworld For Reacher Audition
Though Alan Ritchson has gotten the approval of both author Lee Child and the fans, he was initially rejected by the first casting directory of Reacher. The star mentioned that many actors who fit the description of a 250-pound, 6’3 man had auditioned for the role. One of the primary criticisms received by Tom Cruise’s iteration was his height and the makers reportedly wanted to make sure to avoid that.
When Ritchson went in for his audition, the actor was reportedly given a scene that brought forth the silence that the character was known for. The actor reportedly had to sit through an interrogation scene with not many lines and react to it in the classic Jack Reacher way. He said to Empire,
“Reacher says nothing in the books a lot. I mean, that’s famous: ‘Reacher said nothing’. It’s all throughout the pages of the books. And that was the aspect of Reacher that they were trying to capture in the first audition. It was a four-page interrogation scene, where Reacher doesn’t say anything. What the hell am I supposed to do with this s*it?”
Alan Ritchson mentioned that he tried to channel a twitchy and hyper character from Kevin Costner’s Waterworld. He mentioned to Michael Rosenbaum in the Inside of You podcast that he chose the wrong character for the scene,
“I was like, ‘it’s gotta have some energy,’ and so I was channeling the guy from ‘Waterworld’ who’s like ‘Gimme the paper, gimme the paper.’ […] I was trying to channel that guy, the ‘Gimme the paper’ guy. In my mind I’m imagining this guy trying to just generate some inner something, and they hated it.”
While the actor did not get through the first time around, the audition must have had some charm as he was called again for the role.