EXCLUSIVE: Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette (Barry) has joined Reacher Season 4 opposite Alan Ritchson in a recasting, Deadline has learned.
Rodriguez-Marquette will play Jacob Merrick, a small-town policeman. He takes over the role — which is said to be a meaty one this season — from Jay Baruchel, who was forced to exit the series to attend to a personal matter. Baruchel had only been announced as joining the cast a couple of weeks ago.
Sources said that part of what was notable about the experience for Rodriguez-Marquette is that he was cast the same day the breakdown for the role went out, and was flown out to set within a couple of days.
Created by Nick Santora, who also writes, execs produces and serves as showrunner, Reacher is based on the novels by Lee Child. The fourth season of the dramatic actioner adapts the 13th book in the global bestselling series, Gone Tomorrow. When a chance encounter with a distraught stranger on a train goes horribly wrong, Jack Reacher (Ritchson) is drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power.
As recently announced, Sydelle Noel, Agnez Mo, Indonesian-French singer Anggun, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Weisman, Marc Blucas, and Kathleen Robertson will also all be new additions this season.
Reacher is produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Skydance Television, and CBS Studios. In addition to Santora and Child, Ritchson serves as an executive producer, along with Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, Mick Betancourt, Lisa Kussner, Sam Hill, Amy Pocha & Seth Cohen, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell for Skydance. Carolyn Harris and Kenny Madrid are the executives-in-charge of the series for Skydance Television.
The third season of Reacher debuted in February 2025 and quickly became the most watched returning series ever for Prime Video.
Recently recurring on HBO’s lauded dark comedy Barry, Rodriguez-Marquette has just wrapped filming a lead role in the horror anthology indie Grind. Other feature credits include I Hate the Man in My Basement, directed by Dustin Cook; Fear, Inc, directed by Vincent Masciale; Chokeslam opposite Amanda Crew; and Broken Horses opposite Vincent D’Onofrio and Anton Yelchin. His TV credits include appearances on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, the second season of Black Pill’s digital series All Wrong, The Fugitive for Quibi, and Joan of Arcadia for CBS.
Rodriguez-Marquette is repped by CESD, Strand Entertainment, and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson + Christopher.