Reacher season 3 brings new adversaries for Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher to take on, testing the character’s might, mettle, and intelligence alike. The latest season of the hit Prime Video series brings Reacher back to his lone wolf origins–althoguh he’s not totally alone, the new episodes bring more individual challenges to the former military police major. To make the threats as credible as possible, the filmmakers behind the show brought in big names and practiced villains.

ScreenRant’s Reacher season 3 premiere review gushes that the series has found its “most formidable villains yet”, and three of those are Anthony Michael Hall’s Zachary Beck, Brian Tee’s Quinn, and Olivier Richters’ Paulie. None of these actors are strangers to playing characters with questionable morals, though Hall is well-known for his roles in The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Tee played Shredder in 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and Richters was Ursa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Widow.

ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley interviewed Reacher season 3 cast Anthony Michael Hall, Brian Tee, and Olivier Richters about their work on the show. The three discussed their villainous turns in the new season, complete with callbacks to their past work. Each actor also offered their thoughts on what unique aspects they brought to their roles.

Anthony Michael Hall Shares Why He Was Thrilled To Play A Villain In Reacher

“You’ve Got To Let It All Hang Out”

If you hadn’t seen Anthony Michael Hall in anything between The Breakfast Club and Reacher season 3, you may be shocked by his villainous turn, but the actor was eager to play the part: “I enjoy it. You’ve got to let it all hang out. You have to be alive and thinking on your feet, and I just want to kind of mix it up,” the actor said when asked why he chose to take on the role. “I’ve always appreciated actors that can do that throughout their careers.”

Brian Tee Hopes To Forever Be The Antagonist To Alan Ritchson’s Hero

The Pair Previously Faced Off In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows

Surprisingly, Brian Tee’s casting in Reacher season 3 pushed the actor back into a somewhat familiar dynamic–in 2016, Tee played Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, in which Reacher star Alan Ritchson played Raphael. “I hope so. That would be great,” Tee responded when asked if he and Ritchson were doomed to square off in project after project, “it’s a lot of fun to be able to regroup with the people you work with prior on a completely different set of characters and arcs.”

“It’s also good to be bad,” Tee continued, “I’ve played both good guys and bad guys, but like Mike was saying, you have this sense of freedom with bad guy characters.” The trick is making them relatable: “What you want to do is really ground that freedom into something that people will definitely gravitate towards. I think that’s the charm of Reacher. H is a larger-than-life human being, yet so incredibly grounded and relatable, and we want to bring that aspect to our villainous characters as well.”

Olivier Richters Shares One Of His Favorite Filming Moments

The Actor Also Compares Jack Reacher To Black Widow’s Red Guardian

Olivier Richters is one of the few actors who outsizes Alan Richtson–maybe there’s something in the last name similarity–but when comparing his duels with Ritchson’s Reacher against those with David Harbour’s Red Guardian in Black Widow, Richters has a clear answer: “Well, Red Guardian broke my wrist, so I have to give it to him.” The actor enjoyed an arm wrestling match he shared with Ritchson in an early episode, however, saying, “We had a great feeling there. It was actually the first scene that I shot in the whole season.”

Richters did have one dilemma in how he was going to play the scene as an actor who does his own stunt work: “Am I going to hit my face 10 times, or hit myself one time really hard and [hope] they got it?” Ultimately, “I hit myself so hard in the face … and they said, ‘We got it’.” No regrets, though: “This was fun to do.”

Reacher Season 3 Villains Share Their Favorite Acting Tools & Inspirations

Each Brings Something Different To The Story

When asked what their “go-to weapon” is when filming scenes, Hall, Richters, and Tee had very different responses. Richters began with an homage to a movie performance that changed his life: “The first scary character from my youth was Jaws from James Bond–how he lifted up James Bond and smiled with his [teeth]. I want [to bring] that joy, as a child, of having that fear for someone as a new giant in series. I always look back at that scene and I want to be him.”

Where Richters leans into his imposing stature, Tee says, “What I feel is definitely most scary is this kind of intellectual factor. They say that there’s a fine line between genius and crazy, and if you’re riding that particular line, I feel like that’s the most scary.” The combination of villains who are collectively intelligent and strong is a big deal for Reacher season 3: “Now [Reacher] has to face multiple foes that are just as smart and as big, and I think that’s what the audience is going to gravitate towards.”

“For me, I don’t think there’s anything I rely on,” Hall said. “I have certain techniques and things that I can pull out of my toolbox, but I like just keeping it fresh and open and surprising myself, if I can.” Thankfully for the actor, this part presented just the opportunity: “I had a big range with this role between his relationship with his son and being a part of this criminal operation.” “There’s also a lot of deception,” Hall continued, “which is really interesting to play too.”

Also check out our interview with Alan Ritchson and Maria Sten.

Reacher season 3 episodes 1-3 are out now on Prime Video.