Alan Ritchson told Business Insider he took a punch from the 7-foot bodybuilder Olivier Richters while filming a fight scene for “Reacher” season three.
The third season sees Jack Reacher (Ritchson) infiltrating a criminal organization and crossing paths with Paulie (Richters), a henchman who’s immediately suspicious of him.
Paulie’s strength and size make him a formidable opponent for Reacher, who isn’t used to being the weaker one in a fight.
Ahead of the show premiering on Prime Video this Thursday, Ritchson recalled how one fight scene became too real: “I took a punch accidentally one time, and I was like, ‘I don’t think I would want to get in a fight with this guy in real life.'”
Richters is 7 foot 2 inches tall, which makes him the tallest bodybuilder in the world, while Ritchson stands at 6 foot 3 inches.
Lee Child, the author of the “Jack Reacher” books, told BI in a separate interview that he was “stunned” by how Richters made Ritchson “look tiny.”
Ritchson went on to praise his new costar’s dedication.
“He’s pretty tough. He’s a monster, man, and he worked really hard to come in and be ready for the ‘Reacher’ world. He trained for like four months before we got to set together, and hopefully it shows,” he said.
“Reacher” season three is based on Child’s seventh book in the series, “Persuader,” which was released in 2003. Ritchson is confident that fans will enjoy the adaptation.
“I think audiences are going to get to see something they’ve never seen before. In the book, if you’re a reader of the books and ‘Persuader,’ you get the sense that Reacher’s going to die fighting this guy and there’s no way he can figure out a way to win,” he said.
But like in previous seasons, there’s a heavy focus on Reacher’s fights and stunts, which the team took painstaking care over.
Ritchson added: “Filming those kind of fights, the amount of time we spent invested in that, three weeks for one fight in particular, hopefully, we give TV audiences the same kind of feeling.
“It was fun, and I definitely haven’t experienced anything like that in the prior two seasons of ‘Reacher.'”
