JACK Reacher returns to Prime Video next week for another action-packed series of wrong-righting.
Read on to find out who and what Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is up against this time around...
REACHER SEASON 3: MISSION BRIEFING
Based on Lee Child’s best-seller Persuader, the third season of Reacher finds our titular hulking hero hurtling into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise while attempting to rescue an undercover DEA informant in mortal danger.
Naturally, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is soon up to his bulging neck in a world of secrecy and violence, as well as confronting unfinished business from his own past.
Joining Reacher in season three is Maria Sten, reprising her role as Frances Neagley.
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New to the cast are Anthony Michael Hall as Zachary Beck, Sonya Cassidy as Susan Duffy, Brian Tee as Quinn, Johnny Berchtold as Richard Beck, Robert Montesinos as Guillermo Villanueva, Olivier Richters as Paulie, and Daniel David Stewart as Steven Elliot.
REACHER SEASON 3: PERSONNEL FILES
Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson)
A veteran military police investigator who has 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.
Frances Neagley (Maria Sten)
A brilliant private investigator and former member of Reacher’s Special Investigations unit, the 110th, who is incredibly gifted at tracking and physical combat.
Neagley knows Reacher better than anyone, with a high level of shared trust and loyalty between the two.
Despite her close relationship with Reacher, she has a tendency to keep others at arm’s length.
Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy)
Susan Duffy is an extremely intelligent and tough DEA agent from Boston with a sharp and sarcastic sense of humour.
Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall)
A formidable and successful businessman, Beck is the owner of Bizarre Bazaar, a rug import company that Reacher and his cohorts suspect is a cover for a more nefarious operation.
Paulie (Olivier Richters)
A head taller and 75 pounds heavier than Reacher, Paulie is former US military and now part of Beck’s security team.
Quinn (Brian Tee)
Quinn was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army whom Reacher investigated 10 years ago when he sold military secrets.
Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold)
A sensitive and artistic college student, Richard lost his mother when he was young and is the only son of businessman Zachary Beck.
Five years ago, he was the victim of a traumatic kidnapping which left him mutilated.
Guillermo Villanueva (Roberto Montesinos)
A DEA agent on the verge of retirement, Villanueva is the mentor and father figure of Agent Susan Duffy.
Paunchy with bad knees and a good natured sense of humour, he really loves and cares about Duffy even though they bust each other’s chops all the time.
REACHER RECAP: WHAT HAPPENED IN SEASON 2?
Need a refresher on what happened in the last series? We’ve got you covered...
FIELD REPORT: ALAN RITCHSON TAKES US BEHIND THE SCENES OF REACHER SEASON 3
What can we expect from season three of Reacher?
In my humble opinion, this is the best season we’ve had yet. Season one, we really took our time getting to know him and the world. And then season two was really all about Reacher’s army family.
But season three is really, truly, the best of what Reacher has to offer. We really hit our stride.
My goal is for each season to outdo the one before it and there are things that we can do if we’re really careful and paying attention. And I think season three just hits on all notes.
Why do you think Reacher has become so popular, across so many different markets, worldwide? What’s the appeal?
I’m thrilled, because I, too, am a fan of Reacher, and I want to keep doing this as long as my body will let me, as long as Amazon will let me, and as long as audiences will allow.
There’s some kind of magical lens that people see Reacher through, where they see themselves. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a 90-year-old woman or an 18-year-old guy, somehow we see ourselves in Reacher’s world.
Or it’s wish fulfillment. What show can lay claim to that? There’s really no other show quite like it.
I hope that we continue to be what that is for people, that Reacher can scratch that itch. But somehow people see themselves in Reacher, no matter who they are, what their background is, and that’s a really cool thing.
Reacher is a man of few words, but he does come out with some one liners. Do you have any favourites?
There’s a line that somebody delivers about Reacher in season three, and it’s a little thing people might miss because it doesn’t seem like it’s significant, but to me, it was significant because I’m like, “That is who Reacher is and that’s where I think he and I are so similar.”
Somebody’s talking about Reacher, and they go, “Reacher is somebody who’s respectful to his peers, but he’s demanding.” That is Reacher.
And, personally, at that point in time, I had just walked from a film that we’d been developing with a studio for two years, because it was not living up to my creative needs.
I could see exactly why it wasn’t working, but nobody was willing to do the work to change. So I was like, “I will not make a bad movie. I do not want to make a bad movie.”
We ended up coming together, but it was a very demanding time where I was like, “Here’s what’s wrong, here’s a solution.”
I think if Reacher were in my world and making movies and TV, he’d probably be very similar to me. So, when I heard that line from season three in the midst of this creative battle, I was just like, “Man, I’m being Reacher here in this moment.”
What scenes do you prefer to film - the comedy or the action?
I do love playing the funny stuff. I started in a comedic role [in the football comedy Blue Mountain State], and I always crave to return to that.
The comedy in Reacher is a very dry humour, not physical. I want to be a character actor - I don’t want to be the Grinch, Reacher is anything but that.
There’s one scene in season three that takes place in the gas station, where Reacher is trying to buy himself some time in a very Reacher way. And I laughed so hard because it was just so Reacher. And I hope people enjoy that.
Can you tell us about your training routine for the show?
We’re always trying new things. Ryan Tarran is my partner in fight design, and he stunt co-ordinates a lot of my films, and he’s my stunt double on Reacher, and we’re always looking for ways to improve.
He pushes me really hard. One thing we did was, especially during the actors' strike, we used that time to really clean up my fight training.
And so every day, this guy - he’s a black belt in three different disciplines of martial arts - he pushes me, and we spent a lot of time fighting, and I think it’s really helped and elevated things for the show.
I definitely feel a lot more confident delivering Reacher-style fights after the time that we’ve had together.
How does your body hold up?
I don’t know! I fight my way through everything, and I try not to complain, and I really want to lead without grumbling and with gratitude.
Olivier Richters, who plays Paulie - he’s huge and Paulie is the most formidable opponent that Reacher faces in the books - I remember he told me at one point, weeks into this one fight, when we were both a shell of ourselves, and he was like, “I never knew how physically demanding this was. When you guys do these fights, they’re real.”
We don’t always hit each other hard in the face, sometimes we do it by accident - I got clocked a couple times this season. I was really feeling it this season more than any other, and the only thing I was thinking was like, ‘god, I hope these fights feel as impactful to the viewers as it literally is to us’, because it really took its toll and pushed us to the brink.
Reacher is filmed in Toronto. How much do you enjoy filming in Canada?
Canada is great. Hats off to the crews there because they happily endure the environment. I wonder sometimes if they know that you can go shoot in like Atlanta?
It’s so hard to film in Canada, it’s either so cold or so hot, there’s no in between. We mostly have filmed in the winter, and it’s so brutal.
We’ve had executives come out from LA and they couldn’t endure the cold. And they were like, “Now we understand what you’re actually here doing. Thank you so much for what you do.”
It is hard, but these crews, they stay in Canada, and they continue to shoot this stuff year-round and they never get a break. I now own a home there - it’s like I’m half Canadian now.
Reacher Season 3 begins on Prime Video on February 20
