Every ‘Jack Ryan’ actor, ranked

Jack Ryan is a conundrum. He’s been the focus of Tom Clancy novels, blockbuster films, and a popular TV show, but the whole point of the character is that he’s not an action hero. He’s a CIA analyst who gets dragged into situations against his will and has to rely on his wits to survive. People will shoot at him, or threaten his life, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a scene where he’s mowing down enemies like Indiana Jones or the Terminator. Not his style.

Actually, the appeal of Jack Ryan lies in his lack of style. He’s a blank canvas that actors can bring any number of qualities to, and they have been doing just that for the past three decades. Since there are so many Ryans to choose from, we decided to go the analytical route and rank them from worst to best. Yes, we’re counting the TV show.

5. Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck can be fantastic in the right part. Unfortunately, he can be atrocious in the wrong part, as seen by his portrayal of Ryan in The Sum of All Fears (2002). The actor may have been looking for an understated hero of his own, after buddy Matt Damon filmed The Bourne Identity, but he gives off too much of a college quarterback vibe to be convincing as a desk jockey.

In Affleck’s defense, the rest of the film is bad too. The Sum of All Fears is difficult to follow despite having Tom Clancy’s novel as a source, and the dropping of a nuclear bomb halfway the film through makes it hard to get invested in the stakes that follow. If you’re going to skip a Ryan adventure, this would be it.

4. Chris Pine

Jack Ryan: Shadow Agent (2014) was the second attempt to reboot the franchise. It fares better than The Sum of All Fears, and that’s partly due to Chris Pine’s solid performance. He really sells Ryan’s inexperience here, and getting to see the character repeatedly stumble and recover makes it feel like he’s growing in real-time. His chemistry with Kiera Knightley isn’t bad either.

The issues with Jack Ryan: Shadow Agent lay mostly with Kenneth Branagh. He directs the film and plays the Russian villain, and fails to do a particularly memorable job with either. It’s a shame too, because we get the impression Pine could have done well in sequels.

3. John Krasinski

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-) has become a definitive take on the character for many. The Amazon show has been able to develop Ryan over the course of four seasons, which makes his transition from analyst to gun-wielding threat especially believable. The time allotted would mean nothing, however, without the excellent casting of John Krasinski.

Krasinksi already played a desk worker on The Office (2005-13), so pivoting from paper sales to global threats was a clever, meta-career move. He pretty much nails the character as it was written by Clancy. The only reason he’s number three is because the show itself has been inconsistent at times.

2. Alec Baldwin

The Hunt for Red October (1990) is the single best adaptation of a Jack Ryan story. Most of the film takes place on a submarine that could start World War III, and it’s up to the character to convince submarine captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) to stand down. It’s about as tense as thrillers come, and it’s a testament to director John McTiernan that he stays true to the novel and doesn’t try to shoehorn in action scenes.

Alec Baldwin crushes it as Ryan. He was still relatively unknown at the time he was cast, and this lack of familiarity plays to his advantage as he goes against stars like Connery, Tim Curry, and James Earl Jones. Baldwin’s refusal to appear in sequels is a bummer, but it also preserves The Hunt for Red October as special.

1. Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford didn’t need another legendary role. He was already Han Solo and Indiana Jones. He’s too damn good to deny, though. Ford starred in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), which makes him the only actor to have played Jack Ryan in multiple films. Clear and Present Danger is still the most successful release in the franchise, earning $216 million at the worldwide box office.

Ford was designed in a laboratory to play Ryan. Few actors have been more convincing at playing men who are both physically capable and psychologically sharp, and the films built around him were of similarly high quality. Check them out if you haven’t already.