Reacher Season 3: Paulie was portrayed a bit differently from Lee Child's OG book and here's the reason why

Reacher Season 3 has been adapted from Lee Child's Persuader. Naturally, the show follows the book's plot. But are all the characters portrayed the same way? Well, not all of them are even present in the screen adaptation.

While this article will discuss the portrayal of Zachary Beck's bodyguard, Paulie, it's important to note that one major difference between the show and the book is linked to Paulie's character portrayal.

And that is, the show doesn't have Mrs. Beck actively playing a role in the plot. This is because she is not alive in the show. And that brings along a significant change to the character, Paulie.

Let's look at why and how Reacher's Paulie is portrayed differently from Persuader's Paulie.

---

Paulie is the last obstacle standing between Reacher and Beck

Paulie is Zachary Beck's huge and muscular bodyguard who seems to have never smiled in his life. He is the only person bigger in size than our drifter hero, Reacher.

When Reacher manages to make his way into the world of Beck, he encounters a few characters that he needs to deal with before getting closer to his main guy, Beck. Duke is Beck's number two and is majorly suspicious of Reacher.

However, despite Duke being suspicious of Reacher, he is not the first one to figure out Reacher's truth. It's the blabbermouth, ex-military turned assaulter turned criminal Angel Doll. But before Doll can even reveal this crucial information to the top guys, he is dealt with by Reacher, in his typical way.

Duke, meanwhile, is taken care of too. Reacher, using his wits, comes up with a master plan to remove Duke so that the position of being Beck's right-hand man opens up. He thinks that's the only way he can actually get more information about what goes on in the organization.

Now, with Duke and Doll out of the equation, Paulie is the last obstacle standing between Reacher and Beck. Though their clash hasn’t happened yet, the show keeps dropping hints. It is slowly building anticipation for the ultimate showdown, that everyone is looking forward to, Paulie vs. Reacher.

---

How Reacher's Paulie is portrayed differently from Persuader's Paulie

There is a character from the book who's missing from the show. Those who have read the book would know it's Mrs. Beck.

In Reacher Season 3, Mrs. Beck has passed away. In the book, she is very much alive. But she regularly suffers at the hands of the machine gun-carrying behemoth, Paulie.

In an interview with Men’s Journal, Lee Child explained that keeping Mrs. Beck in the show, and having Paulie torment her, would have only amplified the audience’s hatred toward his character, which wasn’t really necessary.

"That was a nasty strand, and it produced even more revulsion against Paulie in the book. But, we felt we don't need more revulsion. We should focus on the actual criminal conspiracy. We know that Paulie is a servant of that. And the nature of thrillers on the screen is that as soon as you see that guy, right away, you know Reacher is going to have to fight him. And we felt that was enough, without the gratuitous mistreatment of Mrs. Beck."

So basically, Paulie in the book was not just terrifying but disturbing, too. In the show, Reacher, they toned him down to being just terrifying.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Child had shared:

As you know, Reacher is a big, tough guy. He can take anybody on, but I wanted to have him face an opponent that would be a real problem. So I dreamed up this huge, steroid-filled, bodybuilding, seven-foot guy, big enough to really be worrisome for Reacher. That's easy to do as a book writer because you just type different words — costs me nothing, but for TV, they actually had to find an actor that could be that guy, a foot taller than Alan Ritchson, a hundred pounds heavier.

It was quite a task for the team to find someone bigger than Alan Ritchson to play the role of Paulie. They had to do an international search for him and finally found the Dutch Bodybuilder, Olivier Richters aka the Dutch Giant.

Another small but significant detail is that in the book, Paulie's full name is Paul Masserella, but in the show, he is called Paulie van Hoeven. This is simply because Richters is Dutch.

Lee Child had further shared with Entertainment Weekly:

"The thing that I love most is that Reacher is used to winning with the first punch, and he really puts his all into it. He hits Paulie, and no reaction whatsoever. And Reacher's face is like, 'What?!' He can't believe it. And Alan captures that perfectly."

With all these changes, Reacher Season 3 portrays a slightly different but equally menacing Paulie. One who may not be as disturbing as his book counterpart but is still someone you wouldn't want to mess with. Now, all that’s left is to see how his upcoming showdown with Reacher plays out.

Also read: Reacher Season 3: How did Reacher trick Zachary Beck into being his new number two?

---

Stay tuned to Soap Central for more in-depth coverage of your favorite shows and the latest updates on Reacher Season 3!