Sonya Cassidy Talks 'Reacher' Girls, Says Jack Is 'A Very Lucky Man'
In Reacher Season 3, the eponymous hulking hero has a new love interest, but don't count on it lasting. Just as in the 2003 book, Persuader, Reacher develops feelings for Susan Duffy, the DEA agent who recruited him for an impossible undercover mission. And because Reacher is a bit like the American version of James Bond, this seems to happen to him in nearly every book, or each season of the TV series. Are there such a thing as Reacher Girls, and is that a good thing?
"He's a very lucky man, actress Sonya Cassidy tells Men's Journal. "If I may say, what a wonderful existence to just go around like that. And I think it's not just guys who would enjoy that life. I think there's many women that would love to live that life, too. Just pick out your toothbrush, roam around helping people out, having fabulous flings with people, and moving on."
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Cassidy, a British actress in real life, plays Duffy as a tough-talking Bostonian who is every bit Reacher's equal. And she also notes that the female characters on the show, and Duffy in particular, are a crucial part of what makes Reacher such a hit.
"There is just such fantastic action in the show, which is such an adrenaline rush, but I think it's a testament to the show that there are those lovely, just quieter moments," Cassidy explains. "Where the camera is just sitting with two people, really seeing each other. With a character like Reacher, that's the kind of thing people love so much. I think each time [each season] we learn a little more about him as we go, and those more vulnerable relationships are a wonderful way of exploring that."
So, while Reacher does tend to have a new "fling" in most of the books and in the different seasons of the show, Cassidy has a point: We do learn more about him as a character, and we get a deeper sense of a person like Duffy, too. Episode 6 may have had a hilarious moment in which Duffy kissed Reacher and then started yelling at him, but in Episode 7, they actually hooked up for real. Will it last? Cassidy doesn't think that's the point. She also thinks the humor that comes with the sex and romance is an essential ingredient to the success of the franchise.
"It knows when it's winking at itself, and I think that's what makes it so damn fun. That's part of what's made it so successful and rightly so," Cassidy says. "It can be a very funny show."
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In the novel version of this story, Reacher doesn't settle down and get married to Duffy. That's not his style, but as Cassidy makes clear, it's not Duffy's style either. A heroine in the Reacher franchise makes her own decisions, without any coercion from Reacher himself.
"I think a lot of what makes it so entertaining now is the female characters," Cassidy says, referencing Duffy, but also, of course, Maria Sten's formidable Frances Neagley. "There's no shrinking violets, there's no damsels in distress. I think the female energy alongside Reacher enriches the show. It's bloody lovely to play and I think it's just fun to watch because it gives the show even more scope, which is very exciting."
The Reacher Season 3 finale hits Amazon Prime Video on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
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