Maria Sten, Serinda Swan, and Shaun Sipos Talk Reacher Season 2, Boxing, and Elizabeth Taylor
Reacher is back and better than ever!
Season 2 of Reacher begins when Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) receives a coded message that the members of his former U.S. Army unit, the 110th MP Special Investigations, are being mysteriously and brutally murdered one by one. Pulled from his drifter lifestyle, Reacher reunites with three of his former teammates turned chosen family — Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan), and David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos) — to investigate. Together, they begin to connect the dots in a mystery where the stakes get higher at every turn, they question who has betrayed them, and… who will die next. Using his inimitable blend of smarts and size, Reacher will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and protect the members of his unit.
Sipos plays Captain David O'Donnell, a fast-talking, switchblade-wielding family man and one of Reacher's selective choices to join him in his U.S. Army 110th MP Special Investigations Unit. Sten reprises her role as Sergeant Frances Neagley, Reacher's friend, colleague, and some say the female version of Reacher. Swan plays Karla Dixon, a beautiful and extremely intelligent forensic accountant for whom Reacher has long had a soft spot for. Their characters build the overarching story of who we know Reacher as from the preceding season. He’s quick-witted in nature, but we didn’t get a chance to see what made him into the man that stumbled into Margrave and in the depths of a murder investigation until season 2. With glimpses of the 110th unit in their prime, we’re able to see that the swift bond these four share were built out of a shared yearning for a family within the military.
If there’s one thing Reacher and his team know for certain, it’s that you do not mess with the Special Investigators. Reacher season 2 is a smorgasbord of captivating action scenes, witticism, and winsome characters that aid in the development of the character we’ve all grown to love. Pop Culture Planet’s Danielle Forte sat down with Shaun Sipos, Maria Sten, and Serinda Swan to discuss how they prepared for their particular roles in season 2.
With the addition of their characters, we get to see a new side to Reacher. There’s continuous banter, giving viewers glances and more understanding of the previous life Reacher held. To give us the bloodier and and funnier season we’ve all been waiting for, this trio employed their past roles and facets of their own lives to give us these characters. Sten explained that she utilized the background season 1 provided her character Neagley and fused it with her own passions to produce a deeper exploration of her character in this season. She’s always wanted to partake in an action role and has always been active throughout her life with dance, so it only made sense she plays a badass woman on screen (my words, but I’d like to think she wouldn't mind).
Sipos built off of Sten’s thoughts with inspiration from his personal life. “I boxed a lot growing up and it’s something I really looked forward to infusing in the role. I think that there’s a beautiful, balletic brutality to it that I’m looking forward to seeing on screen,” he told me. Meanwhile, Swan, who has had roles ranging from an investigator in the popular The CW show Coroner to a smart hotel management executive in Ballers, tapped into a role you would least expect to prepare her to portray Dixon. “The last character I played was Elizabeth Taylor and while you would think they are completely different roles, I actually used the stature of Elizabeth and the way that she held herself for Dixon'' she shared. “There is a regalness to Dixon. She’s also very down to earth and I think the bizarre opposite of Reacher, who has a one toothbrush and a dirty t-shirt. She's coming in in cashmere, but they both came from the same place, which is the 110th.”
Watch Sipos, Sten, and Swan’s spectacular portrayals of their characters alongside Alan Ritchson in Reacher season 2 now streaming on Prime Video.
