Reacher's Alan Ritchson co-star offers their verdict after beating him to Jack Reacher role

Jai Courtney is speaking out about the new Jack Reacher star Alan Ritchson.

The Australian actor was part of the 2012 action movie starring Tom Cruise based on the crime thriller novels, which have now also been adapted into a series for Amazon's Prime Video.

And though he would have loved to be the pick for the lead of the series, which first premiered in 2022, if it couldn't be him, he's at least glad the Ordinary Angels actor is the one to take it on.

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Speaking with Forbes about missing out on the role, he recalled: "I've seen the show, and I remember when that was casting, I was like, 'Wait, I'm big enough to play Jack Reacher,' and they were like, 'No, that's too close to home,' which was a bummer at the time," adding: "I never got to look in."

Still, he has nothing but praise for the man who did get the role, Alan, with whom he is starring in War Machine, a forthcoming science fiction action film from Netflix.

"Alan's great in that, and he's great in War Machine," he said, and maintained: "I admire that dude and what he's doing."

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"It's weirdly cool to see big, burly blokes getting roles because there was such a fear for a while. I know we've always had iconic action stars with certain physiques, but as someone who's not small, it's nice to see dudes in dramatic roles who aren't getting pigeonholed so much," he then noted.

"He's getting a chance to do that with a lot of the work he's setting up, so props to him," he added. "I can't wait to see how that movie does."

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Last year, during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Alan looked back on his own audition for Reacher — which was during the COVID-19 pandemic — specifically one of his last virtual meetings for it, filming from his house.

Recalling a final screen-test, he said he "made no mistakes," however at the end, Don Granger, a producer for Skydance, said there was something "distracting" going on in the background, like the sound of drums.

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Alan eventually came to realize it was the microphone attached to his chest emitting his fast-paced heartbeats. "Oh my god, I was that nervous! My heart was pounding so hard that it distracted the entire screen test," he said with a laugh.

Reacher starts production for season four next week, which will run through October, however an exact release date for 2026 has yet to be announced.