Tom Cruise is one actor who has seen the ins and outs of Hollywood in the best possible way. His fame is one that goes up in leaps and he too is a man unafraid of taking risks and believing in them forevermore. Seeing that in his bag he holds some of the most iconic characters, there can only be a rare chance that the actor might just be miscast.
Tom Cruise
The actor has done a great number of roles which have made his career a mountain of inspiration. While there are a lot of ways in which miscasting can be handled, this one particular incident was not taken as well by the fans. However, Cruise too was not one to defend his casting. Moreover, he was actually understanding of the matter.
Lee Child Understood Why Fans Did Not Like Tom Cruise’s Casting
Jack Reacher was supposed to be the successful film franchise that was set to satisfy fans of the books who had dearly been waiting for the series to be adapted. However, the news of Tom Cruise being cast in the titular role was not taken so well.
(Left to right) Rosamund Pike is Helen and Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher
“I think that the size thing is important to certain parts of the narrative. Reacher has got to scare people and you can do that so much easier with one glance of this huge animal rather than a normal-sized actor.”
The fans had expected, as they should, a person who at least resembles the main character remotely. Six feet five inches or at least blond. However, the actor who the fans had to watch play their beloved character happened to be a brunette of height of five feet and seven inches. This was something that even the author of the series, Lee Child chose to acknowledge. He was not okay with the casting but, Tom Cruise also found it peculiar.
Tom Cruise Found His Casting Amusing
Tom Cruise understood where all the hate was coming from and was more than ready to address the fact, even if it meant doing so in the movie. He would even improvise his lines in order to sneak in some acknowledgment of the situation.
Alan Ritchson
“When we shot that scene, he did a sort of spontaneous alternative take where the five guys are around him in a semi-circle and he goes, ‘One, two… What? You expected somebody bigger?’”
The role was initially set to go to Dwayne Johnson. However, Cruise took over in a franchise that unfortunately only managed to get two movies. While the fans were extremely disappointed with the actor taking over as the iconic character, when the same situation came to be for the Amazon series of books, fans were overjoyed. Alan Ritchson was cast as the titular character and the resemblance was uncanny.
