Alan Ritchson is behind Jack Reacher in Prime Video’s Reacher, but how much taller is he in comparison to the film star Tom Cruise?

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Reacher. 

Alan Ritchson may be known as Reacher now but, before him, it was Tom Cruise who took on the iconic role in the movie franchise.

Reacher season two is almost done and dusted as the grand finale premieres on Friday, January 19, on Amazon Prime Video.

Actor Alan Ritchson has been portraying the former US military police officer since early 2022 with the action-packed drama already renewed for another series.

Prior to the show, Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise was cast as Reacher in the Jack Reacher films which came out in 2012 and 2016.

However, at the time of their release, there was plenty of backlash against their leading man.

Alan Ritchson vs Tom Cruise height: How much taller is the Reacher Prime Video star? (Image: PRIME VIDEO/PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

How much taller is Prime Video star Alan Ritchson to Reacher movie actor Tom Cruise? 

The story of Jack Reacher, in both the show and films, is based on the book series by author Lee Child.

In the novels, Reacher is described as a “6ft 5in giant” who is “extremely tall and extremely broad”.

So readers were left very much confused when Cruise, who is known to be on the smaller side, was picked to star in the movie franchise.

Tom Cruise is reportedly just over 5ft 5in so a whopping foot shorter than the book character.

Meanwhile, Ritchson, who plays Reacher in the Prime series, stands at 6ft 2in, making him nine inches taller than the Top Gun actor.

Even the 41-year-old is technically too short for the role but is a lot closer in height and build so was a welcome addition to the cast for subscribers.

Its creators even initially turned down Ritchson because of the backlash caused by Cruise in the films.

Opening up to Collider, Ritchson explained: “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.

“After working with Tom Cruise and a lot of fans being upset that he didn’t really have the physicality, as great as he was in the role, they really wanted to get that right.”

Actor Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher in both movies. (Image: PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

Reacher: Jack Reacher is played by Alan Ritchson in the Prime Video series. (Image: PRIME VIDEO)

“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.’

“I auditioned for the part and it was good, it was just that my take on it was a little different than what they had in mind at the time.

“There was a shake-up with who was casting, so they started again from scratch, and I’d already been passed on, as had everybody who did an audition.

“But when they came back around, they picked a few tapes that they’d seen already and I was one of them, so they wanted me to come back and try again and it worked out.”