Why Dwayne Johnson Was Rejected For Jack Reacher (Despite Being Perfect)

 Despite being somewhat perfect for the title role Dwayne Johnson was rejected for 2012s Jack Reacher heres why he was passed over for it.

Despite pursuing the role heres why Dwayne Johnson did not land 2012s Jack Reacher movie. Reacher is the creation of author Lee Childs and first appeared in 1997 novel The Killing Floor. The character is a retired military policeman who wanders America righting wrongs with his physical description making him sound like Dolph Lundgren. Reacher has appeared in over 20 novels since his literary debut so it was only a matter of time before a film adaptation came to pass.

Despite being one of the biggest movie stars in the world its fair to say Tom Cruises casting in Jack Reacher was controversial among readers. Cruise height was just one of many issues cited as a problem  but while Childs defended this choice at the time he was much happier with Alan Ritchsos casting for Amazons Reacher series. Ritchson  in contrast to Cruise, looks like he walked out of the pages of a Jack Reacher novel and he perfectly captured the humor and intensity of the character.

Cruise still received good notices for his Jack Reacher movies, where he brought the characters larger than life personality out in different ways. One major issue facing the Jack Reacher movie  which was based on the novel One Shot  was finding an actor who fit Childs' description. The character almost certainly would have been played by Schwarzenegger or Stallone in the '80s, but few actors fit that template from the 2000s onwards. One exception is wrestler turned actor Dwayne Johnson  who has co starred with Kevin Hart several times  who had the build and charisma of Reacher down. In 2017 Johnson revealed he pursued and auditioned for the part but it went to Cruise instead.