Alan Ritchson will face a macho confrontation in season 3 of Reacher.
CineBlend reports that Olivier Richters, a 7-foot-2-inch actor and bodybuilder referred to as “The Dutch Giant,” has been cast in the main video Action series like Paulie. According to Richters instagramweighs 353 pounds.
While season 3 of Reacherwhich is an adaptation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series, was renewed in December 2023, the streamer confirmed in a January 2024 press release that the next installment would be based on Child’s Persuader, which marked the seventh book in the series. In season 3, “Reacher must go undercover to rescue an informant being held by a disturbing enemy from his past,” according to the press release.
More specifically, Reacher will head undercover to Zachary Beck’s (played by Anthony Michael Hall) castle lair in Maine, according to CinemaBlend. News of Hall’s casting broke in February, and his role is described as “a formidable and successful businessman” who is also “a widower and single father to a 20-year-old son, Richard,” according to Variety.
According to the outlet, Beck, whose son was almost kidnapped, fears his employers and relies on his bodyguards to protect his family, one of whom is deranged bodybuilder Paulie (Richters), whom Child describes as “a very big guy.” “He was at least six inches taller” than Jack Reacher, “probably ten inches wider at the shoulder” and “probably weighed more than [Reacher] for two hundred pounds” in Persuader.
Hall shared the news of Richters’ casting with the outlet and teased an impending showdown between Paulie and Ritchson’s Reacher.
“It reminds me, remember when we were kids?The spy who loved me, the Jaws character played by Richard Kiel? He was literally a giant, about eight feet tall,” he shared. “That character (Paulie) lives on the show and they have an epic battle. I don’t want to give it away, but yeah, they definitely meet like they do in the book… You know, Reacher and Paulie clash; There’s something Marvel about that, right? They’re like two superhero-sized guys, so he’s cool.”
Richters most recently appeared in Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny as Hauke, and his other credits include Knuckledust, black widowand The king’s man.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Reacher are streaming on Prime Video.
