Reacher Star Alan Ritchson on Handling Script Memorization (Video)

Even though production on Amazon’s Prime Video and writer & showrunner Nick Santora‘s Alan Ritchson-starring Reacher has taken a break for the holiday season, that didn’t mean we were going to stop hearing from Ritchson. But we’re going to have to throw major bonus points the actor’s way for the way he’s going about keeping in contact with the fans. In what appears to be the first in the “I Answer a Question Someone Asked” series (though “Q & A(lan)” really was a great name, so props to whoever thought of that one), Ritchson addresses script memorization… essentially, how do you process that much dialogue without your head exploding. We don’t want to spoil it, but it’s definitely worth a view. And the techniques apply to pretty much anyone who has to do presentations (actors, stand-up comedians, corporate events, etc.)… including pop culture reporters who have to keep a ton of intel actively memorized to use at any given time.

But as insightful as the video is, you definitely want to spend some time in the comments section where Ritchson does as he promised he would. For example, here’s what he had to share when asked if it was hard staying in “Jack Reacher” mode for long periods of time because of how different Ritchson is from the character: “I can go in and out of characters like someone’s flipping a switch. I know where he lives now – very internal – so I just dive deep inside the neurons.” Here’s a look at the full post:

A Look at What We Know About Amazon’s Reacher Season 2

Based on bestselling author Lee Child‘s 11th book in the series (Bad Luck and Trouble), Reacher sets out to find answers (and a lot of revenge) when members of his old military unit turn up dead. Serinda Swan (Coroner), Ferdinand Kingsley (The Sandman), and Rory Cochrane (Winning Time) have joined the cast as series regulars for the second season. In addition, Domenick Lombardozzi (Magnum P.I.), Luke Bilyk (DeGrassi: The Next Generation), Dean McKenzie (Shooter), Edsson Morales (Black Summer), Andres Collantes (Two Sentence Horror Stories), Shannon Kook-Chun (The 100), Ty Victor Olsson (Supernatural), Josh Blacker (See), and Al Sapienza (Coroner) are set to guest star. Maria Sten will return as Frances Neagley, with Shaun Sipos playing David O’Donnell. Now here’s a look back at Ritchson’s Instagram post announcing the start of filming on the second season:

Swan’s Karla Dixon served with Reacher in the Army’s unit of Special Investigators. She’s an extremely intelligent private investigator who has no problem holding her own in a fight against men much larger than she is. Kingsley’s A.M. is what Homeland Security calls a “ghost;” he operates under a number of aliases and can pass for any nationality. Money is his only motivation, and he’ll work for the highest bidder. Cochrane’s Shane Langston is a streetwise former NYPD detective with a questionable track record who is now head of security for a private defense contractor. Lombardozzi’s Guy Russo is a tough NYPD detective who’s investigating a case that involves several of Reacher’s former Army cohorts. Olsson’s Saropian is a brutal professional hitman who is charged with following members of Reacher’s old elite military squad. Blacker’s Hortense Fields is Lieutenant Colonel in the Army who oversees Reacher’s Elite 110th – Special Investigator’s Unit. Sapienza’s Marsh is a formidable lieutenant with the NYPD.

As previously reported, the rest of Reacher’s former Special Investigator Task Force includes Bilyk as Calvin Franz, McKenzie as Stan Lowery, Morales as Manuel Orozco, Collantes as Jorge Sanchez, and Kook-Chun as Tony Swan. The series is produced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Television & Paramount TV Studios, with Child also serving as an executive producer with showrunner Nick Santora. In addition to Santora and Child, the series is executive produced by Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, and Adam Higgs, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bill Bost for Skydance.