Saturday, November 17, 2018

Casting Slouch: Jack Reacher Series



Saints be praised! The author of Jack Reacher, Lee Child, does not want Tom Cruise back to reprise the role. Know why? He short. I know that sounds fucked up but hear me and the author out. I liked the first Jack Reacher movie and the second stunk to high hell. I have read a few of the Reacher books and I could not finish (I have three of them near my door on the shelf) because when I read them all I picture is Cruise and if you have read the books it does not fit. I know that in translations of books or comics or whatever that characters can have their races, genders, and everything else changed. But with the Reacher character his size is such an important aspect of him that having a 5 foot 7 Cruise play him is ridiculous. Not to say that people of that height can not kick every inch of my ass because people like Demetrious Johnson exist. But Cruise is not Reacher. I saw the movie before I read the books so I just accepted that until reading the books and him using his intimidating size against opponents or diffusing situations with it.

In an interview with BBC Radio Manchester Child said “I really enjoyed working with Cruise. He's a really, really nice guy. We had a lot of fun. But ultimately the readers are right. The size of Reacher is really, really important, and it's a big component of who he is. The idea is that when Reacher walks into a room, you're all a little nervous just for that first minute. Cruise, for all his talent, didn't have that physicality.” None of that is a knock on Cruise and his talent level. He just did not fit what the human that created the character wants for it. He added that he also wants to have a Jack Reacher series on a streaming platform like Netflix which gets my draws all kinds of damp.

Long-form streaming television, with a completely new actor. I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out - participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series. We're rebooting and starting over and we're going to try and find the perfect guy.” This is exactly write I write these Casting Slouch posts.


My first choice is Joe Manganiello who stands 6 foot 5 and is 41 years old. Dude has an amazing look and the size to go with it. He has been in a lot of movies like Spiderman, Magic Mike, and Justice League. He was also on True Blood. I truly believe that he has the ability to make this character just all kinds of badass on screen. I also think he has the right amount of recognition. Someone like Cruise overshadows whatever role he is in. He is so much Cruise that it's hard to see past it. But you know Joe's face and can accept him as a character in a movie. Plus I'm hoping that they do the series in order of the actual books. The first film was based off of the ninth book and the second off of the eighteenth. The fuck kinda sense does that make?!


Karl Urban stands 6 foot 1 and is 46 years old. I know he is on the older side of the character who is supposed to be 36 years old, blond, and 6 foot 5. But when I tried to continue reading the books Urban was the guy that I pictured. He has been in RED, Dredd, Star Trek, Lord Of The Rings, and Thor: Ragnarok. He has a face where he is not super Hollywood movie star handsome but looks good and just from that scene against Bruce Willis in RED I'm pretty damn sure he'd be able to pull off some fights. But that is another thing about the books I have read. Lot of researching and going places. Not too much fighting. Know why? Because he is a 6 foot 5 former soldier and not many people are dumb enough to bum rush that combination. I'd love to see either of these two guys take on the role. Just please don't use anyone in their 20's.

Click here for previous Casting Slouch.

1 comment:

Thomas said...

I totally agree on Joe Manganiello. He would be perfect. I've read and love all the books,and short stories.