Actor Alan Ritchson has opened up about the physically demanding action sequences in the third season of the Prime Video crime thriller series Reacher, saying it pushed him to the “brink”.
“It took its toll and pushed us to the brink,” said Ritchson. “I got clocked a couple of times this season... I hope these fights feel as impactful to the viewers as they literally are to us,” he said in a statement shared by the streamer.
In the Amazon MGM Studios-backed series, the third season of which premiered on the streamer on February 20, Ritchson plays the titular character Jack Reacher, a former army man who is not only immensely strong and smart but also travels from town to town solving crimes and confronting adversaries.
His co-star Olivier Richters, who plays antagonist Paulie, recalled the gruelling combat training he underwent for four months to prepare for the role. “Those four months of training were intense. I had to eat seven meals a day. I would wake up and have a huge breakfast of about 1,200 calories, then go for two hours of stunt training and eat again afterward. I would nap, eat again, and then do another two hours of training, followed by another meal,” said the Dutch bodybuilder.
“This was on top of my bodybuilding workouts, after which I would eat again and then sleep. The combination of stunt training and bodybuilding was overwhelming, so I had to take afternoon naps,” he added.
Veteran stunt and fight choreographer Buster Reeves shared insights into the adrenaline-fuelled fight sequences between Ritchson and Richters. “Every day that Olivier wasn’t on set, Alan was in our rehearsal area, putting in the effort. We aimed to get everyone to the absolute final point so that all they had to do was walk through the scene once or twice on set before filming. The fight scenes are incredibly physical. We couldn’t afford to do nine or ten takes; we had to limit it to three or four before fatigue set in,” Reeves said.
Directed by Sam Hill and Gary Fleder, Reacher Season 3 is adapted from Lee Child's novel Persuader (2003), in which Reacher goes undercover to rescue an informant from a dangerous enemy from his past.
The latest instalment also stars Anthony Michael Hall as powerful businessman Zachary Beck and Sonya Cassidy as DEA agent Susan Duffy. Additionally, Brian Tee plays Quinn, a menacing former lieutenant colonel in the army who was previously investigated by Reacher for selling military secrets. Johnny Berchtold essays the role of Richard Beck, Zachary's sensitive and artistic son, who was kidnapped and mutilated five years ago.
The first three episodes of Reacher Season 3 are now streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes releasing weekly on Thursdays in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada dubs.
