Alan Ritchson reveals how he had to lobby for his casting in Reacher after he was almost passed over for a surprising reason.

Many Reacher fans feel that Alan Ritchson is perfect as Jack Reacher in the hit Prime Video series, but it was a role that the actor spent a long time fighting for.

In a recent conversation for the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Ritchson reflected on his casting as Jack Reacher. Ritchson shared how he was passed over for the role in the very beginning, as even though he’s a hulking actor at 6’3″, he’s still not quite as tall as the novel version of the character.

According to Ritchson, he then spent several months trying to convince the Reacher team that he was who they needed to cast before he officially landed the part. As fans now know, the actor was embraced in the role, making Ritchson very much an in-demand actor as a result.

“I fought really hard for Reacher,” Ritchson explained. “It took months and months and months to convince everybody that I was the guy. You know, I was passed on the first time. I was passed on in the very beginning of the process, like everybody was.

And I think that’s because I’m 6’3″ and Reacher’s 6’5″. I think they were trying to, you know, everybody’s trying to get a super-authentic version of Reacher on screen. So, there’s always kind of an asterisk in my mind when it comes to this role. But I had to really fight for that, and now that we’re in it, the career’s exploded because of what happened when Reacher aired.”

Alan Ritchson Was Concerned Fans Would Reject His Reacher

Ritchson clearly had a good feeling about his casting, and it turned out to be spot on, as fans and critics alike have given high praise to the actor’s performance.

That isn’t to say he was completely confident that Reacher would be such a big success, however. Ritchson also shared how he feared that fans would reject the show. Fortunately for Ritchson, that wasn’t the case, and the actor can’t help but feel “lucky” to be in his position.

“My big fear was that I would not be able to create an interesting character for the screen. That people would be like, bored out of their mind watching the show because this guy’s not charismatic or interesting enough,” he said.

“But, yeah, it really is a dream role. Sometimes I do sit back and think, ‘I am so lucky that his role found me, and I get to play a role I feel like I was truly born to play.'”

Reacher is streaming on Prime Video with the Season 2 finale set to debut on Jan. 19, 2024. A third season is in active production but doesn’t yet have a premiere date.