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Tom Cruise mocked his height in a cut scene from Jack Reacher

Photo credit: Paramount
Photo credit: Paramount

From Digital Spy

Jack Reacher originally featured a scene that saw Tom Cruise mock his own height on screen, author Lee Child has revealed.

While appearing on the latest instalment of Bestsellers podcast with Phil Williams and Natalie Jamison, which will be released on Thursday (September 24), the writer touched on the franchise's upcoming TV series and whether or not the Mission: Impossible star will have any say on who gets cast as the titular, ex-military cop.

"He doesn't have any kind of veto or particular type of authority over it any more than I do because I'm also an exec producer," he explained to the hosts. "But we'll talk about it.

"Tom has decided NOT to act on television. He never has, and he says he never will. He's a feature film guy."

Photo credit: Paramount
Photo credit: Paramount

Related: Mission: Impossible's Tom Cruise apparently doesn't let people run on-screen with him

Elsewhere, Child claimed that Cruise would likely have no problem for the action-drama to go for someone who's pretty sizeable, as he knew from the very beginning that "physically, he was wrong" for the role in the first place.

"In the first movie, there's a scene where Reacher's in a sports bar and five guys pick a fight with him so he takes them outside," he recalled. "When we shot that scene, he (Cruise) 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?'

"It shows you that he knew… He knew that physically he was wrong for it, so he's totally open to picking a big guy. He's not going to be advocating for somebody who's 5'8"."

Photo credit: Paramount
Photo credit: Paramount

Related: Mission Impossible 7 has started filming with huge Tom Cruise stunt

According to Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke, the show's first season will be based on Child's 1997 novel The Killing Floor. She also confirmed that Scorpion's Nick Santora is set to act as writer and showrunner.

"The Jack Reacher book series is a global phenomenon with one of entertainment's most well-known heroes, and a perfect fit for Amazon Studios' slate of bold, character-driven series," she said in a statement.

"We look forward to expanding the Jack Reacher universe and bringing more thrilling action to our Amazon Prime Video audience."

Bestsellers podcast with Phil Williams and Natalie Jamieson is available weekly on all podcast providers.


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