1. Alec Baldwin
As is often the case, the first portrayal was the best. In 1990s “The Hunt for Red October,” set in the Cold War ’80s, Ryan is a book-smart, field-averse CIA analyst who rejects conventional wisdom by theorizing that a rogue Soviet submarine captain (Sean Connery) isn’t bent on attacking the U.S., but instead seeks to defect and hand over his state-of-the-art technology.
A youthful Baldwin, then 31, deftly conveyed Ryan’s creative intellect and wet-behind-the-ears callowness. It was a combustible mix that drew the CIA analyst into problems only he could detect, while raising questions for viewers (and himself ) about whether he was capable of solving them. Anyone familiar with Jack Ryan knows the answer.