Joe Manganiello — who has been on plenty of fan lists to play Jack Reacher due to his size and physical similarity to the character described in the books — actually tried out for the show and almost got the part, with Manganiello’s team speculating that Tom Cruise had something to do with him not getting the role.
In his new book “Bloodlines,” Manganiello says he tried out for the Amazon series in January 2020, meeting first with Don Granger, then the president of feature films at Skydance Media.
“We talked for an hour and a half,” Manganiello writes. “We discussed the backlash over Tom’s size and how they were only meeting with actors over six-foot-two for the series.”
In the books, Reacher is an imposing six-feet-five inches tall. Cruise is famously more diminutive, standing at five-foot-seven, causing some fan backlash over the difference in the physicality of the character.
Manganiello says Granger told him, “I have to say that sitting here across from you, you are the closest thing to Jack Reacher that I’ve ever met in my entire life. I mean that. You look like Reacher is described in the books. You’re trained. You have his effortless intelligence.”
The “Magic Mike” star advanced to a 19-page dialogue reading that allegedly impressed showrunner Nick Santora so much that he began writing the rest of the season with Manganiello in mind. He also claims Granger, meanwhile, told him, “You are our first choice across the board.”
Following a screen test he was also told by his agents that the owner of Skydance, David Ellison, and the books’ author Lee Child “was thrilled with my performance.”
However, when the choice to cast Manganiello was presented to the then-head of Amazon MGM Studios, Jen Salke, things soured.
Manganiello writes that he heard Salke was furious at being excluded from the casting process and claims she “felt that she was being railroaded into a final decision made by a group of primarily male producers that she didn’t feel part of.”
Salke, he says was pulling for “Smallville” star Tom Welling.
After another screen test during the COVID lockdown, Manganiello was told he hadn’t landed the role, leading his team to speculate wildly that Cruise had blocked him over a past relationship the “Mission Impossible” actor had with Manganiello’s then-wife, “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara.
“Jen wouldn’t let them go with me,” he writes. “She never gave a reason and never communicated with anyone as to why, which gave way to a thought from my team that maybe Tom Cruise, who was listed as an executive producer because he had starred in the previous film adaptations, could have potentially come in over the top and vetoed my being cast on account of Sofía.”
Cruise is not listed in IMDB as an executive producer on the series. Things may have changed once the show got up and running. Reps for Cruise did not return request for comment.
The “Mission Impossible” star and Vergara had dated briefly in 2005 and Manganiello claims that they split over Scientology.
“She said she had broken up with him years before after refusing to take the E-Meter test at the L. Ron Hubbard Celebrity Centre for Scientology, so maybe he wouldn’t want to have to deal with the association with me in perpetuity,” he wrote.
“It was all just speculation,” he concluded. “No one would tell me what the hell happened.”
Reps for Vergara did not respond to request for comment. Vergara and Manganiello were married in 2015 and separated in 2023. The divorce was finalized in 2024.
The accusation against Cruise wasn’t entirely out of the blue.
Manganiello says he had met with director Ed Zwick for the villain role in the 2016 sequel to the movie, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.”
He claims Zwick told him he looked too much like Reacher “is described in the books. Big, tall, bearded, jacked,” and asked ‘How tall are you?’”
When he replied “Six foot five,” he claims Zwick said, “Right. Tom’s never going to let that happen. But you were great.”
The role on the Amazon show eventually went to Alan Ritchson. The show is currently filming Season 5 and has been renewed for a sixth season.
The book comes out tomorrow, Oct. 13, from Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster.
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