SUMMARY

Anthony Michael Hall plays villain Zachary Beck in Reacher season 3, not an outright villain like his previous roles.
Hall’s character, Zachary Beck, has a son, Richard, who Reacher saves, leading to a father-son dynamic intertwined with dirty dealings.
Reacher season 3’s scope includes character dynamics, with Hall’s character interacting with others involved in dirty dealings.

Reacher season 3’s Anthony Michael Hall teases details about his upcoming role and its connection to the protagonist. Hall steps in to play the main villain in Reacher season 3, joining a cast led by Alan Ritchson and also starring Olivier Richters, Brian Tee, Johnny Berchtold, Roberto Montesinos, and Daniel David Stewart. There has not been a confirmed release date for Reacher season 3, but as the season continues filming, Ritchson has said that the release window will be in 2025.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for his new film Trigger Warning, Hall offers a description of his upcoming Reacher character. Hall describes his character, Zachary Beck, saying he “has been drawn heavily from the book.” Zachary is “a kingpin of wholesale drug dealing” on the surface level but has “something a little seedier” going on. He also teases the dynamism of Zachary in Reacher season 3, saying he is not “an outright villain.” Check out the full quote from Hall below:

Yes, sir. I will. Well, first of all, I like Alan a lot. He’s a standup guy. He’s fun to work with. He’s very serious about the filmmaking aspect. I mean, it’s a television show we’re making, but it’s streaming all around the world. And I know that he’s put in his time; he’s 41.

There are moments that I’ve had on the set where it reminded me of when I had The Dead Zone. Suddenly you’re beset with a great opportunity, and you’re the star of the show, and you don’t get a day off. You’ve got to really summon the energy to really be there, present, and doing your work. But he’s also an executive producer on the show, so there are things that I can relate to because I’ve been in that position. But I like him a lot. He’s a very nice guy; very humble guy. And he’s very personable too. He’s very cool with people on the set.

In terms of the character, here’s what I can tell you. I wasn’t aware of the Lee Child book series, but fortunately, I was able to work on these two Amazon shows, which were both based on book series. As you know, I worked on Michael Connelly’s Bosch: Legacy and did a season of that. With this, it turns out there’d been 26 or 28 of these novels, so Lee Child’s incredibly prolific. He’s been around a long time. Alan told me on set that Lee is actually retired now, but I think his brother continues to write the book series.

This particular season is based on one of the books called Persuader, which is a type of gun. I’m playing a great character, and a lot of it has been drawn heavily from the book. I read the book a few times now. The character is Zachary Beck, and on the surface, he’s like a kingpin of wholesale drug dealing. But the truth is that it’s a front; it’s a cover for something a little seedier. I don’t want to say much more than that, but it was also an interesting dynamic because he’s not an outright villain [like] my character of Ezekiel Swan in Trigger Warning.

The intro into this third season is that Reacher basically saved my son’s ass. He’s getting roughed up by what we think are a bunch of townies, but ultimately it’s a dirtier group of people.

In the first episode, you see my son – played by Johnny Berchtold, a really talented young actor – gets roughed up in the town and Reacher comes to save his day in the way that Reacher does. Reacher comes in, kicks some ass, saves the day. From that point, my son Richard says to him, “Look, you should come talk to my dad. He can help you out, maybe put you to work,” which leads to me hiring Reacher.

I don’t want to say too much more than that, but basically, that’s the story; this father-son dynamic. But then there’s also this whole thing of Zachary Beck and who he represents to Reacher. Reacher will be working for him, but as you know, he’s kind of a double agent.

He’s still working with that whole thing. There’s an excellent actor named Brian Tee, who’s also a part of this season. His character steps out of the shadows, and you realize that the two of us are into some dirty dealings. It’s going to lead to a broader story that my son gets involved in and further linked into, if that makes sense.

What Hall’s Statement Says About Reacher Season 3’s Scope

The Upcoming Season Will Focus More On Character Dynamics

In his interview, Hall got even more specific as to how his character relates to the rest of the season. In season 3, Zachary Beck has a son, Richard Beck, who is played by Berchtold. Richard is a college student who survives an attempted kidnapping, a plot point that acts as the catalyst for season 3’s events. Hall explains that Reacher “saved [his] son’s ass” in the initial episode, as Jack “kicks some ass, saves the day.”

The season will then trace the “father-son dynamic” throughout its arc. Hall also complimented the performance from Berchtold, which, if as strong as the actor says, will elevate this dynamic between Zachary and Richard.

He also explained the broader scope of Zachary’s reach in the season, including Zachary’s interactions with Quinn (played by Tee) who is involved in “some dirty dealings” alongside Zachary. This will all “lead into a broader story” involving Richard and other elements of Reacher season 3.

Hall’s statement helps give a sense of the scale of Reacher season 3. The next season is predicted to be slightly smaller in scope than the New York-set Reacher season 2, which saw elevated action and copious filming locations.

Even if dialed back in production scale, Reacher season 3 will find its drama through the complexity of its character dynamics. Zachary Beck is part of this puzzle, and it will be fascinating to see his development in Reacher season 3.