How tall is Tom Cruise? Height explored as author Lee Child reveals why the actor wasn't considered for 'Reacher'

Prime Video's highly-anticipated Reacher premiered earlier this week, but with a different Jack Reacher who was definitely not Tom Cruise.

Formerly Tom Cruise portrayed the role of Jack Reacher in the films but was not chosen to continue his reign in the latest series. Read on to learn the cause behind it.

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How tall is Tom Cruise?

American actor and producer Tom Cruise is best known for his work in Magnolia, Mission: Impossible films, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, Risky Business, Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds, Knight and Day, Jack Reacher, Top Gun, Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow, The Mummy, and many other projects.

He is one of the world's highest-paid actors and has received several accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards, nominations for a British Academy Film Award and three Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and several other nominations.

Cruise's actual height is 5ft 7in, 170cm in centimeters, and 1.70m in meters.

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Why is Tom Cruise not the right fit for the Reacher series?

According to Lee Child, the author of Jack Reacher books, fans of the series did not approve of Tom Cruise in the film franchise. He formerly portrayed the Military Police officer in two films in 2012 and 2016, but fans did not think he was right for the role.

This disapproval was due to Cruise's height, which is just 5ft 7in and in the books, Jack Reacher is described as an extremely tall (6ft 5in), broad, long-armed, and long-legged person. Although, the people who watched the movies instead of reading the books were convinced by Cruise as Reacher.

According to Lee Child:

"There was criticism from the book fans, because they had built up a very clear image of what Reacher should look like. I think that the size thing is important to certain parts of the narrative. Reacher has got to scare people and you can do that so much easier with one glance of this huge animal rather than a normal-sized actor."

The Prime Video series, Reacher, has Alan Ritchson playing the role, who is 6ft 1in tall.

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More about Prime Video series 'Reacher'

Prime Video's Reacher premiered on February 4 and is based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child. The eight-episode first season is based on Killing Floor, which was Child's debut novel in 1997.

The series is developed by Nick Santora and revolves around Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army military policeman who visits Margrave and quickly becomes entangled in the criminal conspiracy that killed his brother. It stars Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Bruce McGill, and Maria Sten.

Reacher is now streaming on Prime Video.