Prime Video reveals who will be playing deranged bodybuilder Paulie, described in the books as being bigger than Jack Reacher, in Season 3.
Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher is about to come face-to-face with someone (surprisingly) larger than him. Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters, nicknamed “The Dutch Giant,” has joined the cast of Reacher Season 3 in the role of Paulie.
After Reacher Season 3 cast member Anthony Michael Hall prematurely announced Richters’ casting to CinemaBlend earlier this week, Prime Video officially confirmed the latest addition with a post on the official ReacherInstagram account that shows Richters crossing out and replacing Reacher’s name on a trailer door with “Paulie.”
The caption reads, “REACHER isn’t going to like that. [The Dutch Giant] has arrived to Season 3.” Richters is best known for playing Ursa in Black Widow (2021) and Hauke in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). He will next appear as Krom in Borderlands, which hits theaters this August.
Even Reacher Is Intimidated by Paulie
Reacher Season 3 will adapt the fan-favorite novel Persuader, the seventh entry in author Lee Child’s beloved series. Published in 2003, Persuader takes place in Maine, following the title character going undercover to rescue a missing DEA agent being held by a haunting foe from his past.
Richters is playing crime boss Zachary Beck’s (Hall) deranged bodybuilder Paulie, who Reacher describes in Persuader as “a very big guy. I stand six feet five inches tall and I have to center myself quite carefully to walk through a standard thirty-inch doorway.
This guy was at least six inches taller than me and probably ten inches wider across the shoulders. He probably outweighed me by two hundred pounds. Maybe by more.” Ritchson is 6 feet 3 inches tall while Richters stands at just over 7 feet tall.
In addition to Ritchson, Hall, and Richters, Reacher Season 3 stars Sonya Cassidy (The Man Who Fell to Earth), Brian Tee (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows), Johnny Berchtold (The Passenger), Roberto Montesinos (Father Stu), and Daniel David Stewart (For All Mankind).
Maria Sten, who appeared in the first two seasons, is also set to return as Reacher’s ally Frances Neagley, who was not part of Persuader, meaning that the writers have found a way to work her into the story.
Alan Ritchson Wants to Play Jack Reacher For as Long as He Can
Although Ritchson’s schedule has become quite packed with projects due to the massive success of Reacher, the actor doesn’t see a future in which he is not playing the fan-favorite action hero.
In April 2024, he shared that he “owe[s] 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.”
At this time, Reacher has not been renewed beyond a third season. However, with the action drama series ranking as the #1 title on Prime Video across all movies and series worldwide for 2023, it is all but guaranteed that the streamer will keep ordering additional seasons of Reacher.
Reacher Season 3 is expected to premiere on Prime Video in 2025.
