Who plays Jack Reacher?

❘ Published: 2023-12-29T10:54:56

Alan Ritchson in Reacher Season 2 Episode 1

Prime Video

An ex-military police officer likes to roam the United States as a drifter until needed – but what actors have played Lee Child’s infamous Jack Reacher?

From James Bond to Ethan Hunt, no one does it like Jack Reacher. Never caught dead in designer clothing or sipping a martini, Reacher is still a force to be reckoned with. Lee Child published Killing Floor in 1997, introducing an extremely tall and well-built former Major in the United States Army Military Police Corps.

The books and the character are fan favorites, as Reacher is known for his more blunt demeanor, level-headedness, and lack of luggage wherever he goes. Within the books, he sticks out like a sore thumb and is not to be trifled with. He has more than what it takes to knock out Bond without the use of fancy gadgets.

From books to the small and big screen, a select few have been able to play Jack Reacher on-screen.

Two actors have played Jack Reacher

So far, only Alan Ritchson and Tom Cruise have played Jack Reacher on screen.

In 2012, Cruise was the first to bring the character to life in the movie titled Jack Reacher. His casting left fans a bit puzzled, as he lacked all the clear descriptive markers Child included in his books about the character.

Regardless, the movie did well at the box office as Cruise was a noted action star. Years later, he reprised the role in Jack Reacher: Never Look Back.

In 2023, Amazon Prime Video announced a Reacher series from the silver to the small screen. Titans and Blue Mountain State actor Alan Ritchson landed the leading role.

What did Lee Child think of Cruise and Ritchson?

Fans praised the series for Ritchson’s casting, as he checked off all the necessary attributes of Jack Reacher. According to Screen Rant, the series originally passed on the actor because he was a few inches shy of the book character’s height. Ritchson explained it took months to convince the casting directors, saying he “fought really hard for Reacher.”

When Cruise was given the role of Reacher, Child said (per Deadline): “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.” But when Ritchson was cast, the writer admitted the actor commanded a room like no one else.

Reacher Season 2 Episodes 1-5 are streaming now on Prime Video, which you can sign up for here. Check out our other Reacher coverage below: