Roles are diversifying for thespian Harvey Guillén, who currently voices a talking playhouse in Disney's animated series Mickey Mouse Funhouse, and a familiar human in FX's vampire comedy. Next, the actor will appear in a serious supporting role as an autopsist in Reacher, the action/crime drama series from Prime Video that debuts Feb. 4.
Starring Alan Ritchson in the title character, the show follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. It is based on the popular novels by Lee Child that have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Two of the books have already been turned into a successful film franchise starring Tom Cruise.
Harvey Guillén in Prime Video's Reacher. (Photo: Prime Video)
In Reacher the series, Guillén plays Jasper, the medical examiner of the small town of Margrave who is overwhelmed and terrified by various recent murders in the area. The actor is excited about the Prime Video show. “Can’t wait for you guys to meet "Jasper” and the rest of the gang,” he posted on Instagram.
Season one of Reacher is based on Child’s first Jack Reacher novel Killing Floor and is penned for TV by Emmy-nominated writer Nick Santora (Scorpion, Prison Break). Santora also executive produces and serves as showrunner for the series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television.
Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. Arriving in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, Reacher finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. But the former Army major may be the wrong guy to take the fall.
In addition to Ritchson and Guillen, the series cast includes Malcolm Goodwin (iZombie) as Oscar Finlay, Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch) as Roscoe Conklin, Chris Webster (Most Dangerous Game) as KJ, Hugh Thompson (Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111) as Baker, Maria Sten (Swamp Thing) as Frances Neagley, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Charlie, Currie Graham (Murder in the First) as Kliner Sr., Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter) as Hubble, Willie C. Carpenter (Devious Maids) as Mosley, Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space) as Young Reacher, and Bruce McGill (My Cousin Vinny) as Mayor Teale.
Reacher's Jasper adds to the increasingly diverse roles taken by Guillén, a son of Mexican immigrants. The actor is best known for playing Guillermo De La Cruz in Hulu’s Emmy-nominated vampiric comedy/horror series What We Do in the Shadows which airs on Hulu. His credits also include supporting characters in other series like ABC’s Huge, Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans, MTV’s Eye Candy and SyFy’s The Magicians. He was also featured in the 2013 film The Internship, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
But it’s been Guillén's role in What We Do in the Shadows that has garnered the actor the most notoriety to date, earning him four nominations including the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Choice Award and the Imagen Award, both for best-supporting actor. Also, he recently joined two animated series. He voices Funny, a talking playhouse, in Disney's Mickey Mouse Funhouse and appears in FXX’s Archer, an adult-oriented, animated comedy that follows the exploits of a dysfunctional intelligence agency.
All eight episodes of the first season of Reacher will debut in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. In addition to Santora, the Prime Video series is executive produced by Lee Child, Don Granger and Scott Sullivan, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost for Skydance.
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