Throughout film history, filmmakers have resorted to a plethora of methods to balance an actor’s height in the context of the scene, whether utilizing some special tools or forced-perspective framing. Tom Cruise allegedly used shoe lifts for his work, a method Don Adams used during his stint on Get Smart, which starred Barbara Feldon, who was considerably taller than him.
Although one would assume Alan Ritchson wouldn’t need such treatment, given his stature, interestingly, the show does use certain tricks to display Reacher’s towering build.
Even Alan Ritchson had to undergo special tricks to achieve Reacher’s towering build
In Lee Child’s novels, Reacher towers almost everyone he encounters, and to emphasize this aspect of the character, the showrunners incorporated some subtle changes in some of Alan Ritchson‘s shots. From his visit to the thrift shop to the pawn shop, the framing of both scenes intensifies Reacher’s already hulk-like stature, especially in his shot with Amy Keatings, who sits low behind the counter.
Several other shots in the series use forced perspective that elevates Reacher’s stature to a greater degree. Even though one could argue these are unessential to some degree, the subtle changes serve as a testament to the showrunners’ respect for the source material, as at one point, they even considered glossing over Ritchson. With Season 2 proving to be an immaculate addition to the series, I’m certain the showrunners will keep on cooking with season 3.
Alan Ritchson was initially rejected for not matching the exact criteria
In contrast to the Tom Cruise-led Reacher movies, for the show, the showrunners were pretty adamant about aligning this version of Reacher with Child’s books. As a result, they were adamant about casting a 6.5 ft actor for the part, and considering Ritchson is 6.3 ft, he was initially shown the door. Their criteria was a direct response to fans’ criticisms of the movies, and fortunately for the Fast X star, the opportunity would come back knocking.
He added (via Express):
It’s funny, I actually didn’t get the role at first. I’m not exactly 6ft 5in and I’m not exactly 250 and I had heard that they were being very specific with their physical demands. I was like ‘Well, they want to read me, but I know they’re going to find someone like Dwayne Johnson who’s a huge dude
While he felt the showrunners might go with someone like Dwayne Johnson, after a shake-up with their original casting, Ritchson was called back in, and this time around, the actor ensured he was on board.
Reacher is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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