Alan Ritchson, who plays the man mountain of a Lee Child character on TV, shared with Jimmy Kimmel how he reached out (no pun intended) to Tom Cruise to acknowledge the movie megastar’s contribution to the role.

Only to get rebuffed by an intermediary.

The lead of 28 Child novels to date, Jack Reacher is a hulking former member of the 110th MP Special Investigations Unit, who now wanders America carrying nothing but a toothbrush. Reacher in each novel typically stumbles across trouble, then uses his particular set of skills to neutralize the ne’er-do-wells.

Cruise brought Jack Reacher to the big screen for the first time back in 2012, in a film based on Child’s 2005 novel One Shot. Years later, Cruise reprised the role in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, which was based on the 2013 Child novel of a similar name.

Ritchson’s freshman run as Reacher was well received and quickly earned a renewal, his second foray as Reacher began streaming on Prime Video last Friday, and a third season has already been commissioned. So it makes sense that he’d want to give Cruise props for bringing the character to live-action life, in a pair of movies that together generated nearly $400 million in global box office.

“He’s taken some criticism for the role, because he doesn’t aesthetically fit the role of [6-foot-5] Reacher perfectly, according to the books,” Ritchson told Kimmel in the video above. Yet, “This guy still did two movies that grossed over $300 million [and] brought so many eyes to this series.

“We would not have the success that we have without it,” Ritchson continued, “so out of gratitude, I write him a loving, heartfelt letter, a page-long letter, and I give it to Don Granger, a partner of his at Skydance, [to whom Ritchson said,] ‘I think we should give this to him, I want him to know I’m grateful he’s passing the torch and all that.”

But Granger — an executive producer on Prime Video’s Reacher — waved off the overture, Ritchson reported.

“He said, ‘We’re not going to give it to him. It’s a terrible idea.’” When a puzzled Ritchson inquired as to why, Granger allegedly explained, “‘He’s fine with it because he’s moved on in life. He’s moved on, and you need to move on, too.’”

Kimmel invited Ritchson to express his sentiments to Cruise there on-camera, in case the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible star was tuned into ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. Press play above to hear Ritchson’s message to Cruise (sans a few “I love you’s”).