When it comes to production, the biggest problem with makingReacherSeason 3was never about storylines, budgets, or even scheduling; it was about size. Specifically, finding someonebig enoughto physically challenge the6-foot-5, 250-pound Jack Reacher, played byAlan Ritchson. The series, which makes a joke about how comically large their leading man is, was faced with a new problem — getting someone even more comically large. And if they couldn’t, they were in big trouble.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly,Lee Child, author of theReachernovels, opened up about his concerns when the show decided to adaptPersuader, the seventh book in the series, for Season 3. The book pits Reacher against Paulie, a monstrous, steroid-addled bodyguard who is even bigger than the already massive protagonist. As WWE superstarBig Emight say, when these two start brawling, it’s a case of big, meaty men slapping meat. That’s a trulytall order. Child said:
“As you know,Reacher is a big, tough guy. He can take anybody on, but I wanted to have him face an opponent that would be a real problem. So I dreamed up this huge, steroid-filled, bodybuilding,seven-foot guy, big enough to really be worrisome for Reacher. That’s easy to do as a book writer because you just type different words—costs me nothing—but for TV, they actually had to find an actor that could be that guy, a foot taller than Alan Ritchson, a hundred pounds heavier.”
Olivier Richters Saved the Day for ‘Reacher’ Season 3
So, where were they going to find a gigantic slab of beef with a brain to take on Ritchson on-screen? “Where are we going to find that guy?” Child recalled wondering as the show started castingSeason 3. “That was the thing that I thought, ‘How are they going to do this?’It was literally an international search.We finally found him in the Netherlands, and he looks the part, he plays the part, he is a scary dude.”That “dude” isOlivier Richters, a Dutch bodybuilder, and actor who is literally nicknamed The Dutch Giant. Standing at a staggering 7 feet 2 inches tall, Richters absolutely dwarfs Ritchson— something that rarely happens inReacher. It’s almost laughable seeing them together, next to an average-sized human.
“The thing that I love most is that Reacher is used to winning with the first punch, and he really puts his all into it,” Child teased. “He hits Paulie, and no reaction whatsoever. And Reacher’s face is like, ‘What?!’He can’t believe it. And Alan captures that perfectly.”
The first three episodes ofReacherSeason 3 are streaming now on Prime Video.
