The character is a complex mix of mystery and menace.
When I look back now, Im just amazed, Hall says of his stint on the show.
Its just surreal to me.
“Having played a lot of villains, I always try to humanize them,” says Hall, right, with Olivier Richters in ‘Reacher.‘Jasper Savage/Amazon Prime
What a thrill it was to be a part of that whole environment.
So, I love playing villains.
Its a lot of fun.
But I like what you saw in this character.
That was kind of intentional something I talked to Nick about, too.
But, Nick and I also discussed his relationship with his son.
Theres a lot of dynamics at play.
But then Zachary also has a game face when hes dealing with this data pipe or these criminals.
Becks home is ridiculous an enormous mansion overlooking the ocean.
Where was this season filmed?We filmed in Toronto.
That house was in an estate a couple hours north of the city.
They sort of CGId the Atlantic coast, so it looks like Maine.
But, just incredible.
The character of Reacher isknown for his size.
Youre over six feet tall.
I have a lot of respect for Alan.
Hes very focused, he comes to work very prepared, hes very vested.
He has great respect for the process, hes very interested.
Hes a producer on the show, too.
Olivier, very nice guy.
A big gentle giant.
And the two of them, the funniest thing I can say is that they were both constantly eating.
I think it was every two hours people were handing them food.
And then I found myself up in Toronto.
Ive done a lot of work [there] in the last 30 years.
I love working in Canada.
I think Canadians are great.
They work very hard, but theres also a really cool, laid-back quality that they have.
I grew up in New York City; Toronto reminds me of that.
Its almost like Canadas Manhattan.
Im going back to New York for theSNL50th anniversary, which is crazy.
I cant believe I was part of that show 40 years ago, when I was 17.
I was joking with one of the producers, Laila Nabulsi, whos a friend of mine.
We were talking about doing these interviews for theSNLdocumentary series on Peacock.
But the show is so crazy.
Its such a marathon.
Its a six-day-a-week job, it goes hard.
And then youre rehearsing for half the week.
Theres also the competitive aspect.
People are very competitive, and its an interesting grind.
Im just amazed, like everybody else, that its in its 50th season.
But I remember asking my mother every week, Mom, can I stay up?
I want to watchSNL.
He meant a lot to me.
I remember being in 11th or 12th grade, at home on the weekends, watching Eddie.
So it was a warm welcome, and a real honor to get the call from Lorne.
After I agreed to it, I was, like, shitting my pants for a month.
Im walking around the city going, I cant believe Im going to be onSNL.
Have fucking panic attacks, like, Oh, my God.
Robert Downey Jr. was part of that cast with you, and nearly as young.
I mean, I was really a kid.
Downey was only 19, I was 17.
As I said, without getting specific, I dont remember anything.
How the hell did these two get here?
Which, by the way, we felt too.How the hell did we get here?
Were you and Robert working behind the scenes together?
Did you find yourselves gravitating toward one another as a team?We did, yeah.
We wrote sketches together.
Also, Lorne did some interesting things, too, where he would send us to meet with writers.
So, wed have meetings set up with Don Novello, who played Father Guido.
But then you quickly learn to write your own stuff, too.
It seemed like a good idea.
Good old toilet humor.
Did you guys write that?I can neither confirm nor deny.
I actually dont recall.
Either way, its embarrassing.
Its just goofy shit that guys laugh at.
So, it probably was us.
They would do releases of [SNLcompilations], the Best of Belushi, Best of Aykroyd.
and he really gave us a sense of how it was going to be.
He goes, like, You guys are going to love it.
So he was the first person to give us a front seat to it, in a way.
He gave us a great descriptive take on it, which was really cool.
And he was also just such a nice guy.
He was great to me.
Yeah, that was a trip.
We were all nervous and excited, and he really was there [for] a part of it.
I mean, he was actually directing, but he was playing himself doing it.
It was really funny.
I think it was a surprise.
No, I dont think there was any kickback towards television or anything.
Do you think being onSNLimpacted your movie career in any way?Well, not in a positive way.
It was a very pivotal, turning-point time, Lornes first year back.
Theres a historical context to it now, but the doing of it was amazing.
Theres just a lot to it, so it was just an incredible experience to be a part of.
So, I have good memories too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, everybody milks the hell out of that one.
Thats why watching it and talking about it helped me lighten up about it all.
And certainly, a great learning experience.
I could attest to that, too.
So, its an honor.
