In an exclusive interview with The Direct, Anthony Michael Hall revealed the biggest difference between Reacher Season 3 and the original book it's based on, Persuader.
Hall plays Zachary Beck, a supposed rug importer and exporter who is hiding illegal dealings and involvement in underground criminal activity. Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is convinced by law enforcement to go undercover, for various reasons, to expose him.
Anthony Michael Hall Reveals the Biggest Difference Between Reacher Season 3 and Lee Child's Book 7
Zachary Beck Remains One of the Leading Targets, But He Has One Less Family Member
Each season of Reacher has been based on one of the original books by Lee Child, with Season 3 being based on the seventh entry in the series titled Persuader. Every adaptation has to make sacrifices as it translates its story across mediums, and these new episodes are no exception.
- The Direct: "You mentioned that you weren't familiar with the book beforehand. Did you ever go back and read it when you were on the project?"
Anthony Michael Hall: I did. I read it while making the project. I kept it with me every day, actually... I was not aware of Lee child's work coming into this, but he's certainly been very prolific... As I think fans of the show may know at this point, it's based on 'Persuader.' And I guess Persuader is a type of gun...
And I have to say, it was very true [to the source material], with the exception, I think, of the omission of the character of the wife. And obviously, you know, in an eight-episode season, you're not going to have everything in there, but I think there are large portions of the novel that are excerpts that contain Season 3 here.
As mentioned by Hall, Persuader does include a character named Elizabeth Beck, who is the wife of Zachary Beck and the mother of Richard Beck.
In Reacher Season 3, she is no longer around, and instead, a chunk of the story's emotional core revolves around Zachary's strained relationship with his son—which plays into why Reacher (who is undercover for the DEA) is allowed into Beck's inner circle in the first place.
Hall continued on, praising Lee Child's impressive writing in the original book series and Alan Ritchson's performance in the show:
But I also have to say a shout-out to Lee Child. I was really impressed by his writing style, because I think those books give you a very personal sort of, sort of inner voice for Reacher, he kind of comes alive in those books. It's really interesting. And I think that there's a lot to be said of his character, even though he is a sort of nomad. He has a military background. It's kind of reminiscent of a lot of the anti-heroes in the 70s that I watched as a little kid, like Billy Jack or these guys. He's a one-man army. You know, and he's sort of an anti-hero of sorts.
But there's another layer to it too, I think that, and I think Alan [Ritchman] does a great job with it. There's almost this child-led quality of times that you see peak through in Reacher because certainly he's got great eyes and great vision. And those books detail that, you're kind of seeing his world literally through his eyes. So his sense of detail and his attention to detail is impressive, but I think Alan does a great job of coloring it in many different ways, not just the hulking do-gooder.
He's really a good actor. He's done a nice job with it. So his decision-making power... Everything's coming from the hip. You shoot from the hip at all times. So it's interesting, it's a really interesting role. But I think I also like those aspects.
There are certain scenes where I noticed that Alan was doing that he plays it with almost like just an earnestness, and I assume a child-like thing, just, it's like you can see it a little bit beneath the surface, which I think was interesting. It's a great show to be a part of it.
Anthony Michael Hall Details His Reacher Season 3 Character Zachary Beck
"He's Living Like The Great Gatsby, We Know Something's Awry Here."
- The Direct: "So you play Zachary Beck. Can you set the stage for audiences? Tell us a little about him."
Anthony Michael Hall: Zachary Beck, on the surface, is a rug importer and exporter with a company called Bizarre Bizarre. But that is ostensibly his cover because, in reality, as we're going to find out, he's operating within a criminal network of guys, and he's trying to make good, and he's trying to rise in the ranks.
And it's interesting, although he's living like The Great Gatsby, we know something's awry here because something's not lining up as it were. So what's really cool about the goal is that this is something I spoke to [showrunner] Nick [Santora] about. There's a lot of room for me to play...
But the B storyline, if I may, is one about his relationship with his son, and that's also kind of our way into the story. Richard Beck comes in to cross paths with Reacher at the beginning of the season for us. And again, without giving away any spoilers, that leads to him introducing Richard to my character, and what unfolds from there is a really powerful, interesting season.
There's a lot of action, and there's a lot of really interesting, cool, fun stuff that happens. But I think in terms of his character, he's a guy who is on one hand, he's hustling, he's working with these guys. He's obviously a criminal. Let's just put it where it is. But the relationship with the son is really interesting. So the dark side of him is how I think he figures into this other group of guys, and that's sort of the main thrust of the season, and how Reacher is sort of playing both sides within that world.
But the story with his son is really interesting too, because then you find Zach in a situation where we learn that he's estranged from his son, or vice versa, and his son and he, there's a sort of disconnect between them, which Reacher, in part, helps to kind of rebuild. But it's a really interesting role for all these reasons. There's sort of a dark and light side to him, like every human, I guess.
We got to explore it in this season. So, there's the action, and the main thrust of the storyline unfolds. And there's also this very interesting dynamic between Zachary and his son Richard, as he's trying to sort of make amends with him and learning to forgive himself and learning to sort of redeem himself in his son's eyes.
Reacher Season 3 starts streaming only on Amazon Studios' Prime Video on February 20.
