We have known for some time now that the upcoming Reacher Season 3 plans to adapt the Lee Child book Persuader, picking up where the Season 2 storyline for Bad Luck and Trouble left off. As a result of choosing Persuader as the source material for Reacher Season 3, the crime thriller that’s currently available with an Amazon Prime Video subscription has started adding co-stars to surround lead actor Alan Ritchson. Only, because I read the book, there’s a pivotal character I can’t wait to see who they cast… because I’m not sure there’s an actor on the planet who can fit the part.
I’m going to dance around major spoilers for the Lee Child book Persuader, but I can tell you that the story finds wandering vigilante Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) going undercover to help out DEA agent Susan Duffy on a case that has gone horribly wrong. We found out earlier that Duffy would be played by Sonya Cassidy, and as part of that casting, Anthony Michael Hall has stepped into the role of Zachary Beck, a rug importer who is up to… a lot more than that.
So, what’s the impossible role to cast? In order to infiltrate Beck’s inner circle, Reacher must align himself with the importer’s security team, and one member – Paulie – is a steroid-swallowing monster who intimidates Reacher at every turn. If you have read any of the Lee Child books, or even watched the two Reacher seasons, you know that the ex-military investigator is supposed to be one of most physically intimidating men in any situation. That’s a big part of the reason why Reacher fans rejected Tom Cruise in the role… and why they seem to appreciate the work that Alan Ritchson puts in to look the part.
Paulie doesn’t really work for Zachary Beck. He works for Quinn, a former adversary of Jack Reacher’s and the main reason why Reacher is helping Duffy at all. Reacher has a score to settle with Quinn (who will be played by Chicago Med veteran Brian Tee). But to settle that score, Reacher is going to have to deal with Paulie. And just to give you a tease of the way that Paulie is described in the Lee Child book, read this passage, directly from Persuader:
He was 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. I got that core shudder I get when I’m next to a guy big enough to make me feel small. The world seems to tilt a little.
I remember reading that passage with Alan Ritchson in mind, and thought, “Good luck.” So far, Reacher has gone to some lengths to make Ritchson appear taller than other actors in the frame. But he’s already a huge dude. Where on Earth are you going to find an actor who is six inches taller than Ritchson, and two hundred pounds (of pure muscle) heavier than the guy playing Jack Reacher now? Not in the Fast & Furious franchise, that’s for sure!
This will be a fun challenge for the team currently hard at work on Reacher Season 3. Here’s everything that we know so far about the upcoming season of the serialized thriller, which has been filming for some time now, But doesn’t yet have a release date. Hopefully we hear more about it soon.
