Manganiello Says Team Suspected Cruise Influenced Reacher Casting

Joe Manganiello says his team speculated that Tom Cruise may have influenced the decision to cast Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher, but Manganiello has no evidence Cruise intervened and says no one explained why he lost the role. The account appears in Manganiello’s memoir, Bloodlines, released October 13. Manganiello writes that he and his representatives wondered whether Cruise, who played Reacher in two films, might have opposed his casting because Manganiello was then married to Sofía Vergara. Vergara and Cruise were reportedly linked in 2005, but their alleged relationship was not publicly confirmed by either of them. Manganiello acknowledges the theory was speculation. The reported production credits for the television series do not list Cruise, and the supplied accounts offer no independent evidence that he took part in the casting decision. Manganiello says he was not told why he was passed over. In the memoir, Manganiello recounts meeting Skydance executive Don Granger in January 2020 during the casting process. He says Granger praised his resemblance to the character as described in Lee Child’s books.