I think David Bautista would do well, unless he is too old.
Hell, The Rock could do it. He’s got the action chops. He may not want to do TV though.
I had always thought Ray Stevenson would have been a perfect choice, but he’s probably aged out by now.
Or Jason Momoa, for that matter.
I would be surprised if they hadn’t at least called his agent.
No, I believe his size is always a factor in every novel. It’s entirely integral to the character and casting a 5’6" dweeb* as Reacher was a huge mistake, box office draw or not. Yes, he is a sniper and a great investigator - the latter, in particular, is usually in play. But it’s his size coupled with his pre-emptive aggressiveness that makes him an unstoppable force. It’s not fancy karate moves: he takes out crowds of opponents with brute force, stomps people’s knees, elbows their noses, pounds their heads, etc. Basically “one hit and you’re down.” And it’s his dogged unstoppable-ness that makes him so appealing, IMHO.
*Yes, I’m being overly harsh. Sue me.
Googling for “tall actors” who have sufficient bulk (unlike Padalecki) but not so swole as to detract from the role: (Links are to images on their IMDb pages.)
Joe Manganiello 6’5" 236lbs
Armie Hammer 6’5" 207lbs <== too thin and/or pretty?
Richard Ashton 6’7" ???lbs
Adrian Bouchet 6’4" 238lbs
Pablo Schreiber 6’5" 210lbs (see below)
Terrell Carter 6’5" ???lbs
Pablo Schrieber is mainly famous for being Mad Sweeney (the Leprechaun) on American Gods and “porn 'stache” from Orange Is the New Black. He appears to be unavailable, though, as IMDb lists him as currently in production on a new tv show (on Showtime) based on the Halo videogame, where he (of course) plays Master Chief. Side note: I am super pumped to watch a Halo series on Showtime with Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief!
Tom Hardy is 5’9”. Might as well keep Cruise.
I agree. Hardy is too tall. They need to cast a 5’ Asian woman, just to make the Child fans implode over the internet.
How about the Long Island Bagel King Man?
How about Ray Stevenson? He may be a bit too old and a bit too British, but he’s physically perfect and a better actor than most.
I wouldn’t call Moose “skinny”, per se.
A short Asian woman playing an unapologetically rude loner who doesn’t work well with others and doesn’t like following “the rules”? I would love that! I would watch each episode five times! I even have the perfect actress for it!
Would the showrunners for the Reacher show wait until Fresh Off the Boat is done filming, though?
You seem to be mistaken: Ming-Na Wen stars in Agents of SHIELD.
I heard Cruise got the part after Danny DeVito turned it down.
Gotta be true to the books, so make it a small Asian woman with hands the size of Thanksgiving turkeys.
What’s Richard Moll doing these days?
Yeah - sometimes I thought the massiveness a tad overdone - I mean, a solid 6’2 would’ve certainly been sufficient given his entire package. But I would be surprised if his size weren’t at least mentioned in every book - such as the sleeves on his thrift shop shirts being too short. And certainly, if you read more than 1 book, you would’ve gotten the message the he was one big dude.
I’m not at all a Tom Cruise fan, but I am willing to admit that he can have a certain type of appeal in a certain type of role. But Reacher is a freaking force of nature - and you can’t emote THAT!
Bingo? He’s 76 years old.
Oo-kay.
Reacher is not supposed to be a spring chicken either. He must be about mid forties in Killing Floor.