Sweet 80s film icon, 56, looks unrecognisable in major new role as villain
Did you clock him?
Nostalgic fans have been left stunned after realising one of the antagonists of Reacher season 3 on Amazon Prime Video is played by an 80s film icon.
Anthony Michael Hall has joined the cast for the latest batch of episodes, based on author Lee Child’s book Persuader, the seventh in his literary series.
The star of films including Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, is now 56 and unrecognisable to fans, 40 years later.
He’s also in an unusual role compared to those as a baddie, having risen to fame as the sweet but nerdy teenage character he also played in the likes of Weird Science for filmmaker John Hughes, who helped cement his status in cinema.
He also became known as a member of the Brat Pack, a name given to the young stars who starred in Hughes’ coming-of-age 1980s films, including Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy and Emilio Estevez.
But in 2025, Hall is now playing a steely-eyed, formidable businessman with a dubious cover story, Zachary Beck, who is the operator of rug import company Bizarre Bazaar, which plays a central role in the illegal operation Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is investigating this season.
Anthony Michael Hall rose to fame as a nerdy teenager in films including The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, 40 years ago (Picture: Universal/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock) The actor, now 56, plays antagonist Zachary Beck, a suspicious but successful businessman in Reacher season 3, opposite star Alan Ritchson (R) (Picture: Sophie Giraud/Prime)In season three he hires Reacher to help protect his son Richard (Johnny Berchtold) after kidnapping attempts.
‘Mind blown. The dodgy ‘businessman’ in S3 E1 of #Reacher on @primevideouk is Anthony Michael Hall from The Breakfast Club and Weird Science,’ posted journalist Pilib Ó Nualláin.
Comment nowWhat’s your favourite film or TV show featuring Anthony Michael Hall?Comment Now‘Anthony Michael Hall as an old man villain is crazy,’ agreed @GiftedBigMike, while Larry Farr admitted: ‘Watching the 3rd season Reacher (loving it) and cannot figure out one of the actors. Then I realised – it’s Anthony Michael Hall! Playing a 50-year-old man!’
‘I’m 61, but dang!’ he added, realising how much time has passed since the beginning of Hall’s career.
His characters in the ‘Brat Pack’ films of John Hughes have cemented him in fans’ heads a certain way, despite him later deliberately trying to avoid type casting (Picture: MCA/Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)‘No matter how hard I try, I just can’t see 18-year-old Anthony Michael Hall the same person as 56-year-old Anthony Michael Hall,’ shared Hugh Parker.
Others were also very excited to see the star in this new role.
‘I did not know Anthony Michael Hall was going to be in the new season. He’s one of my all-time favourites,’ tweeted Scott Stevenson on X, while fan Alex said the choice to cast him alongside Olivier Richters as Paulie, ‘rock[ed]’.
‘It is almost perfect casting given his part roles! Great work!’ chimed in Brett Dasovic.
Hall’s appearance in Reacher was blowing fans minds (pictured in 1984’s Sixteen Candles with a young John Cusack) (Picture: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)Despite Hall being often first associated with ‘good guy’ roles, he actually has played several villains over the years – including in Edwards Scissorhands opposite Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder.
‘Having played a lot of villains, I try to always humanise them, give them some humour, something interesting,’ the actor told Rolling Stone, acknowledging that there are ‘a lot of dynamics at play’ in his role as Beck.
‘I liked testing those parameters, playing with the colouring of it, so the audience doesn’t really know what to make of it,’ he added.
The 80s star is relishing playing the layers of his villainous character, Beck (Picture: Jasper Savage/Prime)In recent years, his onscreen work has been a little more low-key and sporadic, appearing in TV shows including The Goldbergs, The Blacklist, Riverdale and CSI: Miami. He also had a small role in The Dark Knight as Mike Engel for Sir Christopher Nolan.
In 2023, he had a recurring role in other Prime Video show when he appeared as Agent William Baron in five episodes of season two of Bosch: Legacy.
Reacher season 3 is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
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