Reacher star Alan Ritchson sits down to speak with EJ Moreno…
I had such a blast watching the series, enjoying even the little details. Coming from someone in the Florida area, I loved seeing the shoutouts to places like Tampa. You are from Florida; was that your choice to add things like that, or how did that come into the show?
That was something that was on the page. Nick Santura, the showrunner and writer did an amazing job adapting the books to film and rounding it out to make the supporting cast three-dimensional. You know, things that maybe weren’t as well supported in the books because we’re sort of inside Reacher’s head the whole time. He breathed a lot, a lot of life into it, and made it feel real.
Scaling back a little bit: You’ve done so much action. I mean, your action roles are crazy. What got you to that? What were your early action movie memories?
I started as Aquaman on Smallville. That was my first gig. And that’s where I got to taste playing a superhero. It was much more overwhelming than you know. I learned how to do my first rig, being pulled on wires. I didn’t have a lot of experience with that. It’s funny now looking back and seeing how much there was to learn.
Reacher is different because there’s like a surgical precision to the way he moves and fights. When you’re using the back of your head to punch somebody, you have to figure out how to do that. So, we really had to deconstruct how I’m used to fighting, like a brawler, which can be a little ambiguous or wide or broad.
I mean, you have major Johnny Cage energy in this as well. There was a scene where you took off glasses in that bathroom. I thought to myself, ‘He should be Johnny cage, like who is not s not calling him!?”
Yet another facet of my childhood I’d love to bring to life!
Are there any other things you would like to do from your childhood? You’ve done comic books. You’ve done video games. Is there anything else growing up that you’re like, I want to be in the remake of Red Dawn or something like that?
I played Raphael in the Ninja Turtles, but I wanted to be Mikey. So I’m hoping maybe someday in the future, I’ll get to be Mikey in some alternate universe.
We talked about some that you’ve directed before. I don’t know if I saw you on any of these credits, but is directing on Reacher something you’d want to do as well?
I mean, directing is my love. I’ve directed a few projects. I’m very comfortable behind the lens. If that’s all I do, I’d be happy, you know? But Reacher is such an investment. I mean, he demands every ounce of physical energy and mental energy to get through an episode. I don’t think I would be doing a service to the show if I wore both hats because one would inevitably suffer.
I’ve done it before, like on Cicada 3301; I had a role in that and directed as well. I mean, I’m not afraid to do both, but this is such a demanding role, and Reacher deserves my entire focus.
How about the cast? I mean, you and Malcolm Goodwin, you two are just so good together. Is the chemistry on set as good as it is?
I don’t think that the camera would’ve captured the kind of chemistry that we had unless there was some truth to that in real life. Willa Fitzgerald, who played Roscoe, Malcolm Goodwin, you know, helped lead in an unbelievable supporting cast.
Everybody was amazing. Everybody that was on this project was a great person to be around. I mean, there were no egos involved. Everybody showed up ready to work. Everybody was there to serve the project, and I mean, that’s so rare. I can count on one hand how many times that I, you know, I’ve experienced that kind of camaraderie.
That’s a testament to the type of professionals I was working with, and I think the audience is the beneficiary.
As an audience member of this, I think so. I think there’s a connection to everything. I think this is going to be a big hit. Who do you think the show is for?
This show is for everybody. I know that sounds like some kind of cliche. I know, but I was admittedly surprised when we were filming, there was a conversation while we were just sort of waiting for cameras to be set up, and one of the women, I think in the makeup department, says I’ve read all the books, and I love books. And I was like, oh, you’ve read all the books. She was like, oh, before the show, I was a huge fan. And I was like, oh, that’s interesting.
All of a sudden, Don Granger, who’s had the rights to this for a very long time at Skydance and probably knows more about Reacher than anybody else besides Lee Child, comes in, and he goes, no, no, the demographic for these books is 50% women, 50% men. And I was like; I didn’t realize that. I just thought this was more like an action thing for guys.
There were so many female Reacher readers. So I was surprised but pleasantly. Knowing that everybody can enjoy this, this is basically like a football crowd. Guys and girls can enjoy football together. And that’s exactly who this is for.
So big, final question. You don’t have to break some big news, but there is room for more. Any talks about a season two for this?
I don’t think you make the kind of investment that Amazon has made without at the very least being optimistic of more. And I share that optimism. You’ve seen a few episodes…I mean, would you want to see another season? You don’t have to lie if you don’t.
Oh yes, I want to see you go to different places and bring that Reacher energy everywhere.
That’s exactly what we want to do, and that’s exactly what we can do. An anthology, a new cast of characters, new situations, new places, you know, we can be in LA Manhattan or Berlin, or like the first season, rural Georgia, you know? It’s something that we can grow and change with.
Many thanks to Alan Ritchson for taking the time for this interview.
“Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. When Reacher arrives in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, he finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. One thing above all is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.”
Reacher premieres on Amazon Prime Video on February 4th.
