Amazon’s series “Reacher,” based on the popular Lee Child book, premiered Wednesday night at a drive-in screening at The Grove in Los Angeles.
Alan Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher in the series, said, “I love this character.” variety On the carpet upon arrival. “And especially for novels… there’s no better medium than eight to 10 episodes. It’s the right time to tell these stories.”
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With more than 100 million books in circulation and two feature films starring Tom Cruise, the Jack Reacher story remains “extraordinarily widespread”. “It obviously speaks to different types of people from different walks of life,” said Willa Fitzgerald, who played Officer Roscoe Conklin in the series.
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But stepping into Reacher’s shoes isn’t easy. In addition to reading all of Child’s books for his role, Ritchson had to gain 30 pounds and do extensive combat training.
“I had to eat a lot of pizza to bulk up for this role…I started training a little more and getting closer to that famous Reacher silhouette. And the combat training was on another level.” said Ritchson. “Reacher was heavily yoked and he hurt me a little bit. I ended up fracturing his shoulder joint, AC joint. He had surgery when he rapped. … [And] I tore my oblique muscle in a fight on set. It was tough, but I got through it and now I feel better than ever. I hope we can do a lot more. I’ll forget those scars. ”
Malcolm Goodwin, who plays Detective Oscar Finlay, joked, “Listen, I’m tired of watching Alan,” and noted that there are some “really cool” stunts to watch out for throughout the action-packed series. .
Harvey Gillen, who plays Jasper in the series, said: “It’s going to be an amazing journey, so hang in there.” He added jokingly: [the story] When it comes to the actual physique of the character and the different layers to him. ”
“It’s so surreal just talking about Mr. Cruz. I can’t compare myself to what he’s done,” Ritchson said. “I did my best to faithfully adapt what I read on the page and what Nick Santora, as showrunner and screenwriter, adapted it for us. He’s amazing. I think I did my job.”
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Child and Santora will executive produce the series along with Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross. The series also stars Maxwell Jenkins as Young Reacher, Maria Sten as Neighly, Mark Ben-David as Hubble, Bruce McGill as Teal, and Chris Webster as K.J.
Ritchson said it was exciting to have Child on set. “It was the first time I met him and was star struck,” he said. “I was a big fan.”
The first season of “Reacher” is based on Child’s first Jack Reacher novel, “The Killing Floor.” All eight episodes will be distributed worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on February 4th.
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