Reacher star Alan Ritchson has revealed that he got knocked out while filming the intense season three finale, after insisting that he would do his own stunts.
The third series of the hugely popular Amazon Prime Video program – branded the ‘best show on TV’ – came to an end this week, leaving fans in mourning.
The action drama’s latest season, based on Lee Child’s novels, follows Reacher (Ritchson) as he is enlisted as an undercover informant to help investigate the owner of a rug import business, who is involved in some dodgy dealings.
In the gripping final episode, viewers watched on in terror as the lead star finally went up against Paulie (Olivier Richters), leading to a painful fight scene where he was flung threw tables and much more.
Behind the scenes, things were even more tense as Ritchson battled with his team to do his own stunts – a decision that led to him getting brutally knocked out in front of the camera.
Unpacking the footage in a new interview, he said: ‘Everybody was like, “You’re going to get killed and we’re not going to do that because it’s going to hurt you too bad.” And so we’re going to do it with a stuntman and a camera on the floor. And I was like, “No.”
‘And I won. Reluctantly, they’re like, “You better not die because we said you’re going to die, and we tried to warn you.”
‘I got picked up and we worked out the camera thing a few times and he slammed me through the table so hard, I went through it into the seventh circle of hell.
‘And I woke up a day and a half later. When I came to, I had to tell my kids that I felt great, because they were on set, and I didn’t want them to think that dad died and was going to not be okay. It was the worst few minutes of my life.’
Ritchson shared that the scene took almost a month to film the entire thing and, despite the injuries, he found the entire experience a ‘hoot’.
‘That was three weeks we spent doing that fight,’ he added to Entertainment Weekly. ‘That was one, three-second beat in 28 minutes of content, just to give you an example of what my life was like for those three weeks. It was a hoot.’
It was clearly a success as delighted fans took to X to praise the third season as ‘complex’ and ‘amazing’ as soon as the credits rolled.
Among them was @Usman, who shared: ‘Holy molly guacamole! That fight sequence was a goddamn brutal masterpiece!#Reacher #Paulie.’
@mrnastyodrama enthused: ‘Reacher is the best show on TV and it’s not even close.’
Echoing their sentiment, @S_Sivakumar raved: ‘Season 3 is the best yet. Wait for the 4th begins… #Reacher.’
@Isori_22 added: ‘#Reacher S3 is really great! This season surprisingly raies the stakes, featuring a complex storyline and allowing us to see a different side of Reacher this time. The series just keeps getting better and better throughout these episodes. Ritchson continues to be amazing.’
Fans hopefully won’t have too long to wait until Reacher’s fourth season, which was confirmed in October.
However, Amazon has not given any details about the next instalment, including which among Child’s 30 Reacher books will be adapted.
Earlier this year, Child told Metro that selecting which novel to transform into a TV series is a ‘very weird and amorphous’ process.
He continued: ‘It’s a bit like you go to a restaurant, you’re looking at the menu and there are 10 items that you want, and so you just pick one.
‘The main producer called Don [Granger] and the showrunner called Nick [Santora] and I get together on the phone, and it’s a bit like discussing what to add for dinner tonight.
‘It can be whatever, and there are 30 books, so we’ve got a wide choice, and it’s just what we feel like in the moment.’
Child also revealed the major change he suggested to Reacher’s character after watching season one.
He said: ‘I wanted to make Reacher a little more dishevelled,’ he says. ‘I felt in season one he was a little bit “casual Friday” the way he was dressed, and I wanted him scruffier and dirtier; especially for season two, where the contrast between his life post-army and his friend’s life post-army has been so radically different. I wanted that contrast to be more obvious.
More Trending
‘I think Alan is very comfortable being scruffy, so the scruffy Reacher was something that came naturally to him.’
Like previous seasons, Reacher season 3 has been a huge hit for Amazon, clocking up 54,600,000 viewers globally in its first 19 days, making it the most-watched returning season on the streamer.
Hot Property Picks from Metro
Save £300 on the 'Ferrari of lawn mowers' that gardeners are calling 'unbelievable'
This surprising London suburb could become the UK’s £1,000,000,000 answer to Hollywood
Where to move as a first-time buyer if you can't afford London
UK's 'posh enclave' where prices average £532,000 named best place to live in the north
70s icon's London childhood home hits the market for £449,500
Reacher is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: Amazon Prime confirms details of new Grand Tour special episodes after series ends
MORE: Netflix series that was ‘life-changing’ teased for return 12 years later
MORE: Bluey star addresses ‘wild’ moment farting episode was banned in the US
