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'Jack Reacher' Author Shares Why He Thinks Fans Like Alan Ritchson in Lead Role Over Tom Cruise

'Jack Reacher' Author Shares Why He Thinks Fans Like Alan Ritchson in Lead Role Over Tom Cruise

The Jack Reacher author is addressing the criticism fans had over Tom Cruise playing the Army veteran hero in the movie franchise.

If you didn’t know, Tom played Reacher in the 2012 movie Jack Reacher and in the 2016 sequel, Jack Reach: Never Go Back, based on the Lee Child action book series.

While Tom is only 5’7″ in real life, there was some backlash over his casting in the movies, since the character in the books is described as being 6’5″-tall and weighing between 210 and 250 pounds.

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“There was criticism from the book fans, because they had built up a very clear image of what Reacher should look like,” Lee shared in a new interview with Metro.

A few days ago, the new Reacher series debuted on Amazon Prime Video with Alan Ritchson in the lead role. Fans seem to find Alan as a much better fit as Reacher, since he has a broader build and stands at 6 feet 2 inches tall.

When they started casting the new Amazon series, Lee said that they wanted to cast someone who fit Reacher’s book description more, looking for someone that was larger than Tom.

“It just became a different proposition and I guess the opportunity of thinking alright, we can get a much bigger guy so the book fans are going to be happy, but we’re also focusing on the non-book readers,” Lee explained. “What do they need? They need just great entertainment, they don’t have the reference already, and so we also had to satisfy them.”

Lee went on to note that people who saw Tom‘s movies – without reading the books first – enjoyed his performance. In his own interview with Metro, Alan also had high praise for Tom.

“If I was ever so lucky to get a stamp of approval from him I could die happy,” Alan shared. “I’d probably quit while I was ahead. I think one season’s enough if I heard that from him. He’s a legend, I should be so lucky.”

In another recent interview, Alan revealed the on-set injury he suffered that required surgery.

Reacher is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video now.

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Photos: Getty Images
Posted to: Alan Ritchson, Reacher, Tom Cruise