Reacher's Alan Ritchson unrecognisable after weight loss and dramatic hair transformation

Reacher star Alan Ritchson is practically unrecognisable as he takes a break from the smash-hit Prime Video thriller for a new movie.

The 6’3” star of the popular series based on the books by Lee Child, who is also rumoured to portray Batman in the new DC Comics movie franchise, is starring in the upcoming film Motor City.

However, while the star was still in incredible shape for the film, Ritchson’s look as 1970s ex-con John Miller is a dramatic transformation from the iconic former Military Policeman.

He’s now sporting long, bedraggled hair and an unkempt beard and had to lose a significant amount of weight for some scenes.

A first-look at the film shared by the actor on Instagram reveals the star looking slimmed down with long, 70s-style hair while being apprehended by the police.

While a still from the movie jumps forward to his character’s time in jail, where he’s looking muscly as ever but worlds away from nomadic hero Jack Reacher with a messy beard and shoulder-length hair.

Ritchson has previously shared with his fans how nutrition coach Thomas DeLauer helped him rapidly slim down for the role in between seasons of Reacher.

He posted to his followers last summer: “How do you completely transform when you only have a few days to transition from Reacher to your next role in period action piece extraordinaire, #MotorCity?

“You bring out the big guns. @thomasdelauer to help me drop weight fast.”

Paying tribute to the rest of the team, he went on: “The one-of-a-kind Sandy Sokolowski for new hair. And the great Gary Archer (teeth_by_archer) for a less pearly set of pearly whites. And of course @katvonpire on some new character specific tats."

Ritchson included a slideshow of himself getting in character, which included cuts and bruises, messy long hair and a set of fake teeth.

His post concluded: “My goal is always to make a character as real for you as humanely [sic] possible.

“Not having days off between jobs makes it hard to go as far as I want, but I’ll get as close to unrecognisable as possible. I refuse to play myself. You’ve never experienced anything like Motor City."

The star’s next pulse-racing action-thriller will be a must-watch for Reacher fans and is expected to hit screens late next year or early 2026 after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Also starring Shailene Woodley, Ben Foster and Pablo Schreiber, and directed by Potsy Ponciroli, the 70s-set revenge thriller follows Ritchson’s ex-con scheme revenge against the criminals who had him put away for a crime he didn’t commit.

The film takes an unconventional approach to the narrative, as it will reportedly only have around five lines of dialogue.

Co-star Foster told Deadline: “This is not a silent film. There are about five lines of dialogue.

“If we think about what makes us human, it's behaviour and how we behave with each other. So it was a fun challenge to tell a story without telling the story in a traditional manner. We were able to relate physically as actors."

Reacher is available to stream on Prime Video. Motor City does not yet have a wide release date.