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Season 2 of Prime Video’s Reacher is based on Bad Luck in Trouble, the eleventh book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. Actor/writer/dancer Maria Sten plays retired Army master sergeant turned private investigator Frances Neagley, who appears in five of the Reacher books. The former dancer is of Congolese and Danish descent, was Miss Denmark 2008, and worked as a writer on ABC’s Big Sky from David E. Kelly. BGN spoke with this talented artist via Zoom shortly before Reacher’s premiere on December 15, 2023. 

How has your background as a dancer factored into your work ethic as an actor?

I do all my stunts whenever it is safe, which is most of the time. And so it’s exciting to be able to use that old background of learning choreography and being in your body in such a natural way on a big explosive show like Reacher. Being a dancer requires a lot of discipline. It requires pushing through fatigue, pushing through aches, and whatever is going on with you. I am grateful to love what I do. And I take it seriously.

You’re also a network TV writer. Do you ever want to give the writers notes for your character?

Generally, it’s a very collaborative effort. One thing I’ve learned is when you pitch something in the writer’s room, you are always ready to make another suggestion. And if you hear a pitch, you never turn down the pitch unless you have another suggestion. That’s writer 101, standard. So whenever I come across something in the scripts where I think, “Maybe it could be a little bit different” — which rarely happens because the creative team behind Reacher is so well versed in the tone of the characters — but on the rare occasion that it does happen, I always will say, “Hey, I’m flagging this, and here are three ways that I think you could solve it.”

I hope that makes their job a little bit easier, so that they don’t have to spend brainpower coming up with something new when they have so many other things to worry about. And of course, they do that anyway. But it’s just trying to be helpful because I really love the collaborative aspect of what we do more than the actor deciding to do something and the writer deciding to do something else. For me, it’s best when it’s a collaboration. 

Frances has got this combination of being a sniper but also a little nerdy. I love that nuance of your character.

I fell in love with her on the page. She has this weird quirky quality about her that shows she’s not just a tough badass. Frances also has a sort of endearing quality about her that has been so interesting to get to play with.

There’s a scene in a convenience store with the guy helping out Frances with the security footage…

Yea, that was cool.

That particular scene was one of my favorites of the whole series.  That moment that y’all had together was just such a slice of life placed in this action series that brought it down to earth.

That was a very fun scene. And it was actually funny on the day. I don’t know if this is a spoiler, but on the day when we were shooting it, I just met the actor playing the convenience store guy that day and so I asked after we had done a rehearsal or a take, “I just have a question. Are you flirting?” And Alan [Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher] looked at me, and he was like, “That is such a Neeley moment.” Because it’s like: “Oh, she didn’t get that.” 

You were crowned Miss Denmark in 2008. If Frances competed in beauty pageants, what do you think her talent would be?

Oh my god, she would never… [Laughs.]

I know, I know, but what if she had to compete, say, for an undercover case…

It would be a martial arts endeavor. In Season 2, some of the training techniques that she uses specifically are from something called Kali, which is a Filipino martial arts style. When you look at people who are really good at it, it’s beautiful. 

What about playing Frances brings you the most joy?

Oh, so many things. Really. She’s a joy of a character because she’s fun and quirky. Frances also has a lot of tragicness about her because she’s quite isolated from the world and she has this keen ability to follow orders. I am a person who really needs to be in control at all times.

When I get to be Frances, she’s more open to taking orders and doing things because they need to get done. It’s less complicated for her. There’s an ease in that. There’s a freedom in that; that I don’t have in my life that has been interesting to explore. You know, I’m just here showing up to do. What do I need to do? Tell me what to do. It’s interesting being in a space where I don’t have the correct answer at all times because I need to control everything. I think that is my favorite thing about her and the second part is that she’s just unapologetically herself.

Reacher season two returns on December 15, 2023, on Prime Video.