Tom Cruise has had several notable and iconic roles to his name throughout his Hollywood career. The actor also had his fair share of failure at the box office and his fair share of insecurities while navigating through Hollywood.
Talking about the Jack Reacher franchise, the author of the books Lee Child stated that Cruise was indeed not the right choice for the role. Stating that the actor had a bit more of a short stature for the role, Child stated that Jack Reacher had to scare people and insinuated that Tom Cruise’s portrayal was not scary.
Jack Reacher Author Admitted Tom Cruise Was Not A Good Choice
Back in 2012, Tom Cruise starred in and as Jack Reacher. During the initial call that the role would be portrayed by Cruise, fans were quite disappointed with the Top Gun actor receiving some initial backlash.
The actor decided to try his luck once more by starring in the sequel. Tom Cruise starred in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back in 2016 but the movie was also considered a disappointment with low ratings. With Amazon Studios producing and releasing a series titled Reacher, fans were excited once again since Alan Ritchson took up the lead role of the veteran military police investigator. In an interview, the author of the Jack Reacher novel admitted that Tom Cruise was indeed not a good choice for the movie.
“There was criticism from the book fans, because they had built up a very clear image of what Reacher should look like… I think that the size thing is important to certain parts of the narrative. Reacher has got to scare people and you can do that so much easier with one glance of this huge animal rather than a normal-sized actor.”
The author further continued that due to the 8-episode runtime of the series, they had enough time to think about casting a “much bigger guy” for the role and Alan Ritchson was picked. The latter actor was also scared to take up that role and even stated that if Tom Cruise were to acknowledge him, he would feel complete.
Alan Ritchson Wanted To Get Tom Cruise’s Role Right
After Alan Ritchson took over the role of Jack Reacher, the Amazon series earned rave reviews from the people. Reacher received high ratings but it did not mean anything to Alan Ritchson. In an interview, the actor stated that he only wants Tom Cruise’s stamp of approval.
“If I was ever so lucky to get a stamp of approval from him, I could die happy. I’d probably quit while I was ahead. I think one season’s enough if I heard that from him. He’s a legend, I should be so lucky. I care deeply about what he and the rest of the people that have been a part of this for a long time think. I want to get this right.”
Reacher earned a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. With Alan Ritchson in the lead role, Reacher is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
Source: Express
