Tom Cruise lost role as Jack Reacher because he’s too short

• Tom Cruise has played the ex-US Army military police officer Jach Reacher in two films
• Auther Lee Child says he was booted from the role for being too short
• The Jack Reacer series of books has sold more than 100-million times
• Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson originally went for the role, that ultimately went to Cruise

Jack Reacher has already had two movie outings thanks to Tom Cruise, but the character is now being rebooted in a TV series as the 56-year-old actor was too small.

The character of Jack is an ex-US Army military police officer who leaves to investigate suspicious crimes, and is often depicted in the books as being huge.

Jack’s hands have been described as “Thanksgiving turkeys” or “supermarket chickens” in the books, with a height of 6’5″, while Cruise himself is reported to be around 5’7″.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Jack Reacher creator Lee Child said: “Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality.

“We’re going to take it to Netflix or something like that. Long form streaming television, with a completely new actor.

“And I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out – participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series.

“We’re rebooting and starting over and we’re going to try and find the perfect guy.”

The TV reboot was previously confirmed back in August, with Child telling The Guardian: “I’ve got tens of thousands of letters saying they didn’t like Cruise because he’s too small, basically. Part of Reacher’s appeal is that he’s very intimidating.

“Even without doing anything, if he walks into a room, people are a little bit uneasy. It was felt that, for all his virtues, Cruise didn’t represent that. So the readers were cross from the beginning.”

However, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (who is 6’5″, height fans), previously revealed he went for the role before Tom Cruise landed it.

Yup, luv the character. Bout 10yrs ago I went after the role, but Cruise got it. Was great motivation for me to always stay hungry. https://t.co/bwpZfEVIMm

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) 12 April 2017