Anthony Michael Hall shifted away from his usual comedic roles to embrace a more enigmatic character in the third season of Prime Video’s series called Reacher. This decision proved successful as the season went on to become the most-watched returning season on the streaming platform.

In the show, he plays wealthy rug-importer Zachary Beck, whose business dealings become Jack Reacher’s (Alan Ritchson) latest investigation when the ex-military operative is sent into Beck’s Portland mansion to find a missing informant. What we learn over the first handful of episodes, however, is that Beck is a gunrunner who mastered shipping routes that have since been taken over by the villainous Julius McCabe (Brian Tee), who asserted his dominance over Beck by kidnapping his son Richard (Johnny Berchtold) years earlier and chopping off his ear.

In the penultimate episode of Reacher Season 3 — which dropped on the streamer today — McCabe, angry that Beck accidentally allowed two undercover agents slip into his mansion right under his nose, continues his attempt at cleaning up his mess after ordering hits on Frances Neagley (Maria Sten) and anyone else who might’ve been looking into his illegal operation. Neagley, being the boss she is, escapes the attack and learns of McCabe’s plans to have Beck and Richard buried once he’s able to pay off a black-market loan he received from the Russians.

With their impending doom lurking overhead, Beck finally gives Richard — his rather awkward and neglected college-aged son — the love and reassurance he’d been craving ever since his mother died when he was a child. What ensues is a heartfelt conversation in which Beck tearfully apologizes for pushing Richard away and promises to keep him safe from McCabe, making for some of Hall’s best acting yet.

When DECIDER caught up with the actor last week, he revealed how becoming a dad in 2023 helped him navigate the father-son dynamic in Reacher.

“There’s a great arc that [creator Nick Santora] gave me, which comes from the book, which is this kind of sad relationship he has with his son. He’s kind of estranged from his son,” Hall said. “And having had just had my son last summer, it really gave me food for the work. I knew what it felt like to be a father and to love your son. So that was a really interesting thing about it for me, playing a villain, but also having this other dynamic unfold.”

According to Hall, he also drew inspiration from his own upbringing when crafting moments like the one we saw between Beck and Rsichard in Episode 7. The actor said he grew up “without” his biological father, noting that he instead had a “great” stepfather who adopted him. While he experienced coming from both a single-parent household and a nuclear family once his stepfather came into the picture and his sister was born, he said there were definitely times in his life when he felt like Richard.

“I was kind of curious about my own father. I didn’t actually meet him until I was about 22 years old. And that’s a whole other story,” Hall said. “But it was really interesting to be able to delve and draw from your own life and give it to the work. And that’s one of the things I try to do. So it was a really great role for all those reasons.”

Will Beck and Richard finally get to start over and have the relationship the latter always longed for? Tune into the Reacher Season 3 finale when it drops on Prime Video next Thursday (March 26) to find out.