Jack Reacher is fast becoming one of the most prominent action heroes of modern times. Much of that is down to “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson, whose 6-foot 3-inch, 235-pound frame has finally given fans a book-accurate version of the ex-military policeman character. Audiences can’t get enough of Ritchson in the role, as evidenced by the fact season 3 of “Reacher” broke a Prime Video ratings record. The actor has made no secret of how hard he worked for the part and how grueling the casting process was, with Amazon initially hesitant to offer the actor the lead role in “Reacher.” But he pushed ahead anyway, and fans couldn’t be happier.
Prior to Ritchson’s casting there were multiple actors up for the part, including Teddy Sears, Brandon Routh, and Brian Van Holt, but it seems one Australian star was gunning for the part in secret. Jai Courtney, who played John McClane’s son in “A Good Day to Die Hard,” was a fan of the character and felt he had the physique required for the job. But while he managed to land a role as a secondary villain in the first big-screen adaptation of a Jack Reacher novel, he never got to play the man himself.
Instead, Courtney played Kyle Reese in 2015’s “Terminator Genisys,” one of the most infamously awful attempts at rebooting that long-suffering franchise. He followed that up by playing supervillain Captain Boomerang in the blunder that was David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad,” and that one-two punch of duds seemed to pour cold water on his career for a while — though he did return for the much better James Gunn-helmed “The Suicide Squad” in 2021. If he’d had his way, however, Courtney would have returned to glory by playing Jack Reacher in the celebrated Prime Video series.
Jai Courtney has always wanted to play Jack Reacher
Jai Courtney played henchman Charlie, right-hand man for villain The Zec, in the 2012 “Jack Reacher” movie, which starred Tom Cruise in the title role. The character first appeared in Lee Child’s “One Shot” novel, and was incorporated into Cruise’s inaugural Reacher outing with Courtney portraying the Russian assassin. But it seems the Australian actor always harbored a desire to play the hero himself.
In a 2025 interview with Forbes, Courtney was asked about his upcoming turn in the Netflix sci-fi action outing “War Machine,” in which he co-stars with Alan Ritchson. The film will see the pair play recruits at a special ops boot camp who are forced to face off against an otherworldly force, and should provide plenty of adrenaline and ass-kickery for fans of such things, especially those who enjoy Ritchson dealing out beatdowns in Prime Video’s “Reacher” series. It seems Courtney himself is one of those people, as the actor was asked about “Reacher” and praised his “War Machine” co-star for his performance as Lee Child’s hulking hero. But he also revealed that he was gunning for the role of Jack Reacher back when Amazon was casting the show. “I’ve seen the show, and I remember when that was casting,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wait, I’m big enough to play Jack Reacher,’ and they were like, ‘No, that’s too close to home,’ which was a bummer at the time.”
According to Courtney, he was turned away due to the fact he’d already appeared in a Jack Reacher movie, which would make sense. But as the actor himself points out, he’s also a big guy, which under normal circumstances might not be enough to fulfill the requirements of a role, but was of particular significance with “Reacher.”
Jai Courtney felt he had the perfect Reacher physique
Jack Reacher is known for his size — so much so that when Tom Cruise was cast in “Jack Reacher,” it prompted uproar among fans. Author Lee Child had created the hero as the type of man who would walk into a room and everybody would take notice. His size was integral to the character as it not only allowed him to project his strength but often courted attention from nefarious elements, leading to the multiple adventures on which Reacher embarked across dozens of novels. Described in the books as having “a six-pack like a cobbled city street, a chest like a suit of NFL armor, biceps like basketballs, and subcutaneous fat like a Kleenex tissue,” Reacher is sort of inseparable from his impressive physique, which is why everybody was so upset when the 5-foot 7-inch Cruise was cast in 2012 and then returned for 2016’s “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.”
Jai Courtney clearly understood the importance of size when it came to the role, and was likely hyper aware of the backlash due to the fact he appeared in the 2012 film. But the casting process for the Prime Video show proved to be as cutthroat and challenging as any mission on which Reacher has ever embarked. In fact, Alan Ritchson described his “Reacher” casting as the “scariest” moment of his life, and only actually landed the role of Jack Reacher after another actor was cast. As such, Courtney probably did well to avoid that particular experience, though it no doubt would have helped his career had he made it through to the end.
For the time being, however, it seems the actor has nothing but admiration for Ritchson as Reacher, telling “Forbes:”
“Alan’s great in [‘Reacher’], and he’s great in ‘War Machine.’ I admire that dude and what he’s doing. It’s weirdly cool to see big, burly blokes getting roles because there was such a fear for a while. I know we’ve always had iconic action stars with certain physiques, but as someone who’s not small, it’s nice to see dudes in dramatic roles who aren’t getting pigeonholed so much. He’s getting a chance to do that with a lot of the work he’s setting up, so props to him.”
