Who decided to cast the diminutive Tom Cruise to play Jack Reacher...

[WCGreen]

A six five former specail ops guy who roams around the country looking to help people out.

Seriously...

[seabeyond]

1. i know.... really? i read the books first and turned son onto them. he and i have been

flabbergasted since hearing this. we did a search of all the actors that would work. we had quite a list. is such a big deal in our house, hubby that hasnt read the books is sending me article, validating sons and my opinion. it has been a hoot in this house.

it is ALL wrong. not only cause of size and looks, but personality also. cruise is intense and almost hyper type moving. reacher is lopin', smooth, mellow even in his intensity.



even the picture does not work

As Child explained wryly during a recent book tour stop in Chicago, the search for an actor to play Reacher took place over a number of years. Hundreds of names were “bandied about,” as he put it: Liam Neeson? Daniel Craig? Hugh Jackman? Gerard Butler? Russell Crowe? Josh Brolin? Jason Statham? How about a black Reacher, maybe Will Smith or Denzel Washington?

But the search repeatedly stalled over finding someone with Reacher’s imposing size: 6-feet-5-inches tall, 250 pounds. “It was completely impossible to find a physical facsimile of Jack Reacher in Hollywood,” Child said. “There are none—not even remotely close. The people you think are 6-feet-five and 250 pounds are not. Most of them are at least seven or eight inches shorter than the fictional Reacher. It got to the point where people were saying, ‘What about this guy who’s nine inches shorter than Reacher? He’s better than this other guy who’s nine and a half inches shorter than Reacher.’ ”

Although Child did not have casting approval, he was part of the discussions, and it was he who spun the search in new direction. “Absolutely Reacher is a big guy, no question about it, but he’s also intelligent, intimidating, he gives off a certain vibe,” he told the creative team. “What if we got everything except the size? How would that work?”

That new thinking led them to Cruise, but his casting set off howls of dismay across the Internet among Reacher fans, primarily because of the vast physical difference between the actor (an extremely fit but not exactly beefy 5-feet-7) and the character as described in the books. “I’ve got a picture in my head of Reacher,” went a typical comment on Deadline.com, “and don’t want it replaced by this twerp.” Other commenters pointed out that Cruise is an Oscar-nominated actor who can play intense, intimidating characters (as he did in “Collateral”) and has been embraced by audiences worldwide as the star of another blockbuster action series, “Mission: Impossible.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/the-decision-to-cast-tom-cruise-as-jack-reacher/2012/12/14/194b3b6a-3e42-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html

[MrScorpio]

2. Dolph Lundgrun - That guy is still working nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Hmm - Liam Neeson is listed as 6'4"

and, I would have thought, could pass for 250 pounds, even if he isn't.

[WCGreen]

6. Liam Neeson is a good action type of guy...

But a bit too intense.

[seabeyond]

11. he was the first to come to me. and i hold with him. but, son thinks he was too old for the

character. thought should have been a man in 30's or late 20's.

guess liam is not much older than cruise.

[NewJeffCT]

8. I'd be more concerned about the personality differences

than the difference in height - 6'2" Hugh Jackman made his career playing 5'2" Wolverine. And, Braveheart certainly succeeded at the box office and with critics, depsite short guy Mel Gibson playing William Wallace, who was (according to legend) a good foot taller than Gibson. (They even addressed that in the movie, if I recall.)

Cruise is good in certain roles that fit his personality - intense, cocky, strong-willed. But, his range is limited.

[seabeyond]

12. i agree. if it was only the height and physical, i could get past that. but, the character is what

is so much fun with reacher. and i do not see cruise getting that.

[jobycom]

13. It's still better than casting Ben Afflek as a Tony Mendez. nt

[seabeyond]

16. i will take your word on that

because i am clueless... lol

[jobycom]

36. Argo... They took a real life Latino hero and portrayed him as white.

Good movie. Good performance by Affleck. Terrible example of how culture deludes itself.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. well, Cruise CAN measure to 6.5 if you count the size of his ego.....

[trof]

29. Child: Blinded by stardom and a 'big' name.

I think the author of the books is so completely overjoyed ($$$) that they're making a movie out of one of his Reacher series books (and there will probably be more movies) that he would have signed off on Mickey Rooney.

[NV Whino]

3. It's okay

Heels and a low camera angle will fix it right up. I'm going to take a wild gues that Cruise is a producer. Right?

[WCGreen]

7. Yep!

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. He is THE producer, bought the rights to the movie some time ago.

[trof]

30. AHA! The REAL story!

Thanks.

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. Oh yeah...I read about that over a year ago, and knew he would do the movie eventually.

Which bummed me out no end, cause I like the stories, good bedtime reading.

Also have been waiting for Barry Eisler's "Rain" series to be a movie, have heard much talk, no results.
another fun series if you have not read it yet.

[leftyohiolib]

4. katie must have taken him to the cleaners so he shoe-horned himself into a movie

[MadrasT]

9. Worst casting ever.

I was so excited about a Reacher movie... then found out it was Tom Cruise, and that ruined the whole thing for me.

I Jack Reacher and I can't stand Cruise.

[seabeyond]

15. agreed. but i really had a tough time with the first couple books, he not having anything on

his person suggesting hygiene shit like... you know, TOOTHBRUSH. i would get all obsessive about him not brushing his teeth and then kissing a woman.

it almost ruined it for me. i kept pretending he really had a toothbrush and was really brushing his teeth. then in one book it said he had a toothbrush in his pocket.

isnt that the stupidest thing.

but was real hard for me to get past that one.

[MicaelS]

10. Hollywood "suits" who had to have a "bankable" name.

Hell, it may have been Cruise himself.

[Paladin]

14. That's What The NY Times Article Said.

It took Cruise's influence to get this first Reacher movie made. The author of the books (Lee Child) said the Hollywood Suits had a problem with the Reacher stories, because they don't have enough dramatic arc---Reacher turns up somewhere, kills or kicks the shit out those who deserve it, and then moves on, staying the same straightforward, badass guy. I love the books, and I'm unhappy with Cruise portraying Reacher, but I'm glad the movie's coming out; Lee Child said he was pleased with the screenplay, so that's encouraging.....

[MicaelS]

17. If Child is happy that is all that matters.

Let's face it, if you were Child, would you turn down all the money that would come with Cruise? Or would you try to hold out for the "perfect" Reacher?

Shit, I'd be there with both hands out saying "Show me the money"!

I bought a couple of Reacher books, and went "Meh, ok". Right now, I'm reading and re-reading Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, and Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict.

[Paladin]

19. I Met Child At A Book-Signing A Few Years Back.

He's an absolutely charming guy, very funny. (And tall, as well: 6'4".) Somebody asked him how he came up with the Reacher character, and he said he had grown weary of heroes in mystery books with complex personalities, personal burdens, and assorted quirks. And thus was Jack Reacher created.....

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. Wish Child could act, that would solve the problem.

[trof]

31. Reacher = modern day Lone Ranger

Stranger comes into town, fixes dire problem, moves on.
Who WAS that (masked) man?

[Orrex]

18. Is the character's height actually important?

I have it on good authority that Jeff Bridges has both of his eyes, yet he was somehow able to play the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn to perfection.

They should have a name for that sort of thing, when a person pretends to be someone else on stage or screen.

[WCGreen]

22. In the novels...

Reacher intimidates people with his size and bearing. And that is a big part of the story.

[OriginalGeek]

23. !

[Rob H.]

34. Yep.

His height is something that's mentioned constantly in the books because his sheer size makes him intimidating to other people even when he's not trying to be.

[Orrex]

35. I dunno

As far as characterization goes, that would ultimately seem like a minor point IMO, even if it comes up frequently in the books.

[graywarrior]

20. Ryan Hurst from Sons of Anarchy would be perfect

He's 6'6" and has the same style personality.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

21. Xenu?

[Forrestted]

24. Watch Out For The Little Man

[trof]

28. EXACTLY! D-YEW-UMB - DUMB!

Maybe he has lifts in his shoes?

[Rob H.]

33. I remember someone suggesting Kevin Durand

on a movie forum a while back. He's younger than Reacher would be IRL, but he's 6'6". He also has experience playing military men and was more buff than this last time I saw him in anything:



I've also seen Armie Hammer (6'5&quot suggested but he's way too young to play Reacher, imo, given that he's only 26. Then again, as I type this there's currently a sofa-frolicking homunculus portraying an ass-kicking man-mountain, so it would still have been less ridiculous than it turned out to be. (Reacher also has blue eyes and dirty blond hair in the books, fwiw.)

[eShirl]

37. Don't mess with the Lollipop Guild.

Just don't.

[Lionel Mandrake]

38. That's easy to fix.

Make the sets smaller, as they used to do for Alan Ladd (so that he would look bigger). Also cast even shorter actors for other characters, and choose camera angles so that nobody's head is above Cruise's.