Editor's note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 1 of Reacher.From showrunner Nick Santora (Scorpion, Prison Break) and based on Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel Killing Floor, Season 1 of the Prime Video series Reacher follows veteran military police investigator Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a man as intimidating as he is tall. Although he appears to be a mysterious drifter when he shows up in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, bodies start gruesomely piling up and a conspiracy emerges that not only puts him directly in the crosshairs but also makes him easy to point the finger at, leaving him wondering who he can trust and how he can prove his innocence.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, Ritchson, who couldn’t be any more perfect for the role, talked about poring over all the books (which add up to 24, at the time), feeling so connected to the character, why he’ll never stop thinking about fan expectation, the buddy duo dynamic between Reacher and Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin), why he finds someone like Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) so appealing, and how they might approach things going forward (the series has already been picked up for a second season).

Collider: When we last spoke, you told me that you didn’t originally get this role and that you got cast after they came back around, and you had gone back in. So once you were cast as this character, where did you start? How did you approach building him? Did you start with the script? Did you start with the books? Did you start with the physical side of it? Was it a combination of things?

ALAN RITCHSON: I had seen some of the scripts, so I had an understanding of the tone of the show, but it was all about the books for me. As an actor, the first step that I take is to absorb as much material as I can that exists, whether that’s just the script or, in this case, I had 24 books to pore over. My job was reading these books, and it didn’t feel like work at all. I love the books and quickly became as big a fan as anybody. When I have so much material, and I’ve seen Reacher in so many situations, it really answers all the questions I could have about how he would treat a certain person or situation. It gave me a firm footing to get started with, and then the scripts were incredible as well. Nick Santora, our showrunner, did an amazing job adapting the book faithfully, but also creating a really three-dimensional character in Reacher and those supporting characters, like Willa Fitzgerald and Malcolm Goodwin, who are just amazing talent for Roscoe and Finlay, and that trifecta. He really brought them to life in a way that bests the books.

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Image via Prime Video

Obviously, with the season following one book, you didn’t have to read 24 books. Why did the character become so important to you? You’ve been in this business a while, and you’ve played quite a few standout roles, so what was it that set this apart and made him so special for you, that you went above and beyond in a way that you didn’t necessarily have to?

RITCHSON: I just fell in love with who this character is. Hundreds of millions of people have read these books, and I don’t think it’s by accident that so many people have taken a liking to who he is. He provides a level of wish fulfillment in us. Just as a citizen myself, I crave a mysterious stranger slipping into town and taking care of the things that our justice system is too slow or cumbersome to take care of. But also, he’s a complex character in that he’s incredibly intelligent. He’s very physical. He’s got propensity to violence, but he is also really funny. And trying to combine that dry sense of humor with that wit or that mystery about him is a complicated thing to bring to life. I like the challenge. I don’t wanna be bored in playing a character, and I see all those dimensions and I wanna take that on. I wanna honor who he is for all the fans.

When you take on something like this, at what point do you stop thinking about all the fans of the book series and about what Tom Cruise did before you, and you figure out how you want to make the character your own? Did you have a moment when it really all clicked for you, and it felt like that all lined up?

RITCHSON: I don’t know if I’ll ever stop thinking about the fans because I’m one of them. There’s a pressure that I feel too to go, “I really wanna get this right. I care so much about this character and this franchise, just in a very personal way.” But the pressure eased a little bit. There was a huge presence of producers and executives and writers, and we had amazing directors. Everybody has access to the books too. They all have an opinion on who Reacher is to them, and it was a truly collaborative effort, in a way that I haven’t experience before. I’ve played iconic characters before that have a lot of IP attached to it... I’m just taking all of it in, and it’s like, “Let’s play around. Let’s tinker. Let’s try him this way. Let’s try him your way.” Everybody saw something a little different, and it was just about being open and availing myself to what I thought, and what the directors and producers thought. I think where we ended up was the most authentic place because we all pitched in.

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Image via Amazon

RELATED: 'Reacher' Review: Alan Ritchson Leads a Brisk, Brutal TV Adaptation of Lee Child's 'Killing Floor'

There’s a lot on your shoulders for this show. You’re playing the title character of a popular book series, you’re in pretty much every scene, you have a ton of physical work and stunts and action going on, and all of it is happening for an entire season and possibly multiple seasons, not just the length of a movie. Is it sometimes a relief that this is a guy who doesn’t always have a lot to say?

RITCHSON: Oh, sure, yeah. “Reacher said nothing” is a very famous turn of phrase in the books. As an actor, you don’t wish for no lines, but you go, “Okay, maybe this is one where it’s not gonna be pages of dialogue.” And then, of course, it’s a little difficult to adapt “Reacher said nothing” to the screen. He does talk a lot. We get to hear his thought process out loud, and it’s a lot of fun to see the way that he breaks down the characters around him or the world that he’s in. It was a false positive for me. I came in, and it was just pages of him unraveling somebody, so I don’t get to sit back and relax like I maybe had hoped. Regardless, it’s a lot of fun for people, and I’d be happy to play this guy for every book. Let’s see if we can bring them all to life.

You say in this show, “Tall people never have enough room for their feet,” and as a six-foot-tall woman, I’d like to thank you for speaking that truth.

RITCHSON: Yes.

Was it fun to incorporate some of the obvious issues that come up and some of the natural humor that arises from being so tall? Was all of that always in the script, or was some of that added along the way?

RITCHSON: Yeah, I think a lot of it was in the script. There’s an awareness that he has, that the world perceives large people in a certain way. A lot of that he uses to his advantage. I experience, in my own life, being not small. People assume that I’m either an asshole or brutishly dumb, and I would like to think that I’m not either. I think Reacher uses that to his advantage. But yes, there’s an awareness in being able to talk about what the world is like for large people, and a lot of people don’t deal with those kinds of challenges or difficulties or stereotypes. That was fun. I think Nick Santora, our writer/showrunner, did a really incredible job capturing who this guy is and adapting what (author) Lee [Child] set up on the page. A lot of that, I give credit to Santora and the writers.

I love the odd buddy duo dynamic going on between Reacher and Finlay. It’s such a fun relationship because those two characters couldn’t be more different. What did you enjoy about that dynamic, and what did Malcolm Goodwin bring to that relationship?

RITCHSON: Malcolm Goodwin is one of the finest actors I’ve worked with. He brought a lot to the character. He made those scenes very fun. Even within a scene, working with him, I would think to myself, “This is so fun, to be able to watch him work this close.” You’ve got this odd couple. There’s something very nostalgic about it, almost like that ‘80s odd couple that we’ve seen in some features. There’s a lot of tension and conflict at first, and their relationship develops over the course of the season, and becomes rather touching and heartfelt at moments. It was a lot of fun to work with him on that. I think a lot of times, it takes a few episodes to hit a stride with another actor that you haven’t worked with before, and both with Malcolm and Willa Fitzgerald, who plays Roscoe, it was immediate. The chemistry was there in a very immediate and rare way. It didn’t take us any time at all. By the time we were finished shooting the first episode, it felt like we’d been working together for years. I think that’s a credit to who they are as performers, and it was a real gift to work with them.

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Image via Amazon

It also feels like it would take a very particular kind of woman to crack through to the emotions of someone like Jack Reacher. What is it about Roscoe that he connects with? How was it to explore that relationship?

RITCHSON: I think you hit the nail on the head. Roscoe is somebody with this unwavering strength, and really, that comes from Willa. She is so powerful. She has this way about her, that she can really pierce the windows to your soul. I’ve never worked with somebody who can look through you the way that she does. She’s very powerful, and Roscoe is the beneficiary of that. I think Reacher relies on and enjoys the fact that his presence is so intimidating that it puts most people on their heels. And then, you have this little firecracker in Roscoe, who’s not intimidated at all or pushed around at all. I think she represents, really, the best side of women. I think women are incredibly strong. I think they are to be revered. The gift that women bring to the world is something that we really should hold in the highest esteem, and she represents all the best strengths of women, which is a lot of fun to watch. I think women will enjoy the show as much as men. Before getting into the franchise, this is framed, for me at least, as an actioner for men. It is that, but it’s also so much more, and I think women will enjoy this as much as men. People who have read the books will enjoy this as much as those who have not.

I was really impressed that this is a show with a really great female character because it is one of those things that could be challenging on a show like this.

RITCHSON: Sure. And again, that’s really a credit to Nick Santora. There’s a three-dimensionality to the supporting cast, as much as Reacher. It would be very easy for a writer to go, “Let’s focus on Reacher,” and then there’s the other characters. It’s the very interesting orbit that these other characters take and the dimension that we see in them that makes this show work so well. It’s not as much Reacher, as it is these fascinating other actors that we get to work with. That’s what makes it so fun. It really goes back to what’s on the page. It’s hard to watch the show and distinguish between what was in the books and what wasn’t, and I think that’s a testament to just an amazing team, in a lot of different ways. It’s faithfully adapted, but it almost bests the books in how these supporting characters are set up and portrayed.

Have you already started to have conversations about a second season? Would you go in order and do the second book for a second season?

RITCHSON: There are 26 now, and I think I would do them all. If we could wrap this up when I’m 74 or 75, I’d be happy. Yeah, sure. I don’t know about a second season, but my fingers are crossed as hard as anyone.

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Image via Amazon

When you have such great characters, like Finlay and Roscoe, are you guys trying to find a way to bring them back into the series? How do you make it so that he doesn’t fully move on?

RITCHSON: This would be most likely a bit of anthology. The first season is the first book. That may be the blueprint going forward. I don’t know, but I would imagine that would be the blueprint going forward. In one respect, there’s the point of view that’s, “Well, if we work with any real diva actors, the good thing is, I wouldn’t have to see them again next year.” The problem is I really fell in love with everybody that I worked with. Every cast member, all the way down to day players who are there just for one line, were some of the best actors and actresses that I’ve ever worked with. Not only that, they were wonderful people too. They’re great to be on set with. So, it’s rather tragic that there’s a chance that I may not see some of them again. They set the bar so high that we’d be remiss not to see them show again. So, I hope we do. I don’t know how that’ll play out, but that would be one area that we deviate from the books a little bit, I think, to the benefit of audiences, if you see them pop up more.

I just loved everybody on the show, even who’s supposed to be the bad guys. I just thought everybody embodied their characters so well that I can’t imagine anybody else playing any of the characters.

RITCHSON: I feel the same way.

Even with all the work that you do as Jack Reacher, when you take on a character like that, it’s such large shoes to fill. Did you have a day on set, whether it was a time when you were doing a fight scene or you had a quiet moment, that you really felt like him?

RITCHSON: Oh, sure. As the season went on, it started to feel more and more like, “Okay, I think we’re landing in the right spot and I’m starting to feel very comfortable making the choices that I’m making.” But it was a group effort. Even one degree different in tone, as far as the drama, or the mysterious or even the malicious nature that we give him, if we dial it a click to the left or right, it could make the show feel very different. Down to the degree, I think we really worked as a team to find the right balance between that dry sense of humor that is so entertaining and the seriousness at which he approaches his world of justice. It was a balancing act and we really spent a lot of time playing with that together as a team. But as the season went on, I started to feel more comfortable and the producers started to leave because they felt like we had it. It started to feel like, “Okay, I think we know who Reacher is and I think this adaptation is working.”

Season 1 of Reacher is available to stream at Prime Video.