Unlike the big screen adaptation of Lee Child’s acclaimed novel, which saw Tom Cruise playing the titular character, the Amazon adaptation found a book-accurate actor for the series. Considering Jack Reacher’s 6.5 ft height is one of his most recognizable features from the books, Alan Ritchson, who stands at 6.3 ft, successfully embodied the intimidating nature of the character.
But despite being huge in size, in the upcoming season, it seems Jack Reacher is finally set to be humbled by Olivier Richters, who perfectly embodies Lee Child’s idea of Paulie in the books.
The Dutch Giant Olivier Richters Will Go Toe to Toe With Alan Ritchson in Reacher S3
With the Reacher series not looking to stop anytime soon, the third season is set to be based on Persuader, the seventh novel in Lee Child’s series. And for the third season, Amazon has got The Dutch Giant onboard to play Paulie, one of Zachary Beck’s deranged bodyguards.
The character is described as being 6 inches taller than Reacher in the books, and with Olivier Richters’ casting, the creators have outdone themselves. Richters, who earned himself the title of the tallest professional bodybuilder in 2021, stands at 7.2 ft, making him perfect for a live-action Paulie.
Apart from excelling as a body-builder, The Dutch Giant has also played brief roles in Black Widow and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Speaking of Richters’ character, Anthony Michael Hall, the actor of Zachary Beck, drew comparisons between Paulie and the late Richard Kiel’s Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me, following their similar stature.
Hall explained:
He reminds me of, do you remember when we were kids? The Spy Who Loved Me, the Jaws character that Richard Kiel played? He was a literal giant, like seven foot two. … That character (Paulie) does live in the show, and they have an epic battle. I don’t want to give it away, but yeah, they definitely meet as they do in the book. … You know, Reacher and Paulie colliding – there’s something Marvel about that, right? They’re like two superhero-sized guys, so it’s kind of cool.
It’ll be interesting to see how Alan Ritchson‘s Reacher will live up to the new challenge of facing a foe bigger than himself, as Hall confirmed the two giants will have a bare-knuckle brawl in season 3.
Alan Ritchson Isn’t Leaving Reacher Anytime Soon
The Fast X star has maintained a great bond with the streaming platform, as Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon and MGM Studios, stressed they see no end in sight, stating: “We’ll have Alan as long as he will play Jack Reacher”. The actor also has no intentions to bid goodbyes to the role anytime soon, as Ritchson expressed he’ll continue exploring more of Lee Child’s books as long his body allows.
He said:
I owe it to the audience to explore as many of these books as my body will allow, and I owe it to the people that took a shot on me when I was a huge risk for them. They have given me a real career.
Considering there are 28 Reacher books, it’s safe to say the series will continue to run for many more seasons unless the actor gets cast as DCU’s Batman.
Reacher is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
