Alan Ritchson Is Ready To Be Taken Seriously (Interview)

BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE. THE HUNGER GAMES. REACHER. FAST X. Popular and successful projects? Absolutely. But those of a “serious actor”? Not quite.

These are just some of the credits under the belt of 41-year-old REACHER star Alan Ritchson, who has begun to break through to Hollywood’s A-list in recent years thanks to his starring role in the widely well-received Prime Video series based on Lee Childs’ iconic books, which is currently in production on its third season.

And while a role like Jack Reacher in a massively popular streaming series can help bring an actor fame and fortune, what it did for Ritchson that was most important was give him legitimacy and a foothold in the entertainment business that he’s never had before.

It’s what, after close to two decades of trying, finally landed him a part in a film like ORDINARY ANGELS, which he says is one of the first scripts he read after season one of REACHER debuted in 2022.

With this newfound cachet, Ritchson — as he told our Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of ORDINARY ANGELS — is hoping to, after years of playing athletes and action heroes, be taken seriously.

You can find a transcription (edited and condensed for clarity) of our interview with Alan Ritchson below.

His mustache

Eric Italiano, BroBible: Alan, I’m not gonna have time to talk about this series but I do just want to say at the top, BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE was on when I was in college, and let me tell you, it was electric. It was an amazing time to be a kid that age.

Alan Ritchson: I’m glad you enjoyed it, thank you.

EI: But ORDINARY ANGELS, first and most importantly, what did your wife think of your mustache?

Alan Rithcson: She was digging it. It’s disheartening, though, because that just opens up the possibility of any dude with terrible facial hair being a contender now, and I’m scared. But, no, she was really digging it.

EI: I’m just glad that you didn’t find yourself in a Henry Cavill-type situation where you had to keep the stash for this project but then CGI it out of REACHER. That could have been a disaster.

Being taken seriously as a dramatic actor

EI: A time-traveler shows up to your house 20 years ago and tells you you will be headlining a movie alongside a two-time Academy Award-winning actress (Hillary Swank). What’s your reaction and would you be happy with where your career has gone?

Alan Ritchson: I probably would have had a chocolate milk and done a spit take. You cannot plan for these kinds of things. You can hope and dream big, but it’s never that specific, like, ‘I’m going to be headlining something with a two-time Oscar winner and trying to bring to life this incredible true story.’

It’s all a fun, shocking journey for me day to day. I’m really proud of where life has taken my career. When you start out, you just have to say yes to everything and hope as you build a resume that makes some kind of sense. For most of my career, it was so schizophrenic and disparate that it was hard for people to figure out what to call me in for.

I would do a comedy and they’d go, ‘You’re big, physical, loud, obnoxious — you can’t do drama, you can’t do something small and contained.’ For years, I would fight to get in those rooms. And then I would do that, and convince people, ‘Oh maybe he can do drama,’ and they’d forget about the comedy! And I’d want to get back into comedy, but then they’d go, ‘No, but you’re doing really small stuff!’

It’s been hard to nail down who I am as an artist, and REACHER has really solidified this action space for me. This was one of the first scripts I read and fell in love with after season one of Reacher came out. 99% of the offers that I had were action movies, and I just felt like this was the right next ste. I still believe in my soul this was the best choice I could have made at the time and I was really happy that it all worked out, I think it’s all maturing in the right kind of way.

EI:  I want to give you praise for that because I was going to ask that exact thing: is taking a role like this in direct response to your REACHER fame? In terms of showing both your newfound fans and potential employers, ‘Hey look I could do this too!’

Alan Ritchson: Yes. I’ve wanted to do this kind of movie. I didn’t have the value to add to the project when you’re competing with like all the Chrises: the Evans, the Pratts, and the Pines. Those are the people that I’m competing with to tell these kinds of stories and I was never going to win in those spaces until REACHER gave me the opportunity to do that.

I’ve wanted this for a long time and I’ve been afforded the opportunity to do that through REACHER. It’s important to show range and to tell unexpected stories at times, and I wanted to say no to action for the first choice out of the gate, and I’m really glad I did. This is a beautiful story that I’m so proud to be a part of.

Co-starring with two-time Oscar winner Hillary Swank

EI: I wish I had more time, I would go into how the message of this film reached a non-believer like myself, which I think is a very impressive thing for a film like this to do. Hillary Swank is great in this. Did you learn anything from her or from working alongside her?

Alan Ritchson: Working with Hillary Swank on this was a real gift. I’ve worked with all different types of actors. Especially being in TV, I might work with a couple of hundred different types of actors. All different skill levels, all different levels of preparation. Some come in and blow your mind, some disappoint, so I’ve seen it all. But to work with somebody of her caliber was really interesting.

The first thing that I noticed was that she had what a lot of people at the very top have. But it’s always interesting to see how it manifests, and it was this fearlessness in her performance. It was fearless. She would just inhabit this character and be as big, as ostentatious, as aobnoxious, or as sincere as required, and it was all it was all just completely unafraid. It was liberating watching that. You’re like ‘Oh, yeah, that is that is why she’s so good at what she does.’ It was cool to see firsthand.

EI: In my research for this, I didn’t know that she won twice. I knew that she had the one for MILLION DOLLAR BABY. I didn’t know she had one before that [for BOYS DON’T CRY].

Alan Ritchson: She is decorated to an intimidating degree.

EI: Just real quick, thinking about getting you back into a comedy, just have your team point out John Cena. Be like, ‘Look, he’s doing it.’

Alan Ritchson: Right. There you go.

Why Reacher is so beloved

EI: Speaking of REACHER , other than the general quality of the show, what do you think it is about the show and your portrayal of the character that’s hit home to such an extent?

Alan Ritchson: That’s a really tough question to answer because it’s got there’s a lot of facets to that get gem. I think it starts with a great IP. Lee Child set this up in a way that hundreds of millions of people have read the books and fallen in love with them. So a lot of the heavy lifting was done and then you got Mr. Cruise who brought Reacher to the feature film space and really introduced Reacher to the world in a big way.

I think without him paving the runway for us, very few people would be watching our show. You have a lot of gratitude for what he did. But at the end of the day, REACHER is wish-fulfillment for many of us guys and girls. He’s unburdened by many of the things that weigh us down and prevent us from living out the adventures that await us in life. I think most people seek justice and desire to see justice to a really rich degree, and few of us see it in our lifetime. So we can escape into a character where you get instant gratification in that way, and that’s a lot of fun.

EI: Reacher reminds me of a character from the Batman world, wink wink, but not Batman himself. He reminds me of Joker in the sense that Joker is the embodiment of pure unbridled chaos. Reacher is the embodiment of the opposite: almost a supernatural manifestation of justice. They both just appear at the right moment to either raise hell or save the day.

Alan Ritchson: I totally agree with that.

His favorite Reacher book

EI: The consensus out there seems to be that PERSUADER, which season three is based on, is the best Reacher book. Do you agree and does that bring any added pressure?

Alan Ritchson: It’s so subjective. I’ve read all the books, there are so many. There are some that I think will adapt to TV beautifully. Some may not, but are still great books. So, it’s really hard to say. DIE TRYING is personally my favorite book. I hope and I believe we could be getting to that one soon, but PERSUADER is top five on almost every list when you talk about REACHER rankings. I know it’s one of the crowd favorites. I’m really proud that we’re doing it. It is one of the really pure adventures where it’s just Reacher being Reacher, and he’s in a really interesting quandary for most of the film. I think it’s going to be a blast for people and I’m glad we’re doing it.

EI: You said film?

Alan Ritchson: TV show! I’m doing so many movies right now. I’m sitting on 22 offers right now. All I’m doing in my free time is reading feature scripts right now my head is in a different place.

His openness about using testosterone

EI: Woah. Congratulations. That’s incredible. Something my colleagues and I really like about you is your openness about how you’ve used testosterone. Is that a conversation that you had to have with your team about going public with it? Or was that solely you standing on your morals, being like, ‘I want to go forward with this’? Because the unspoken secret is a lot of people in your line of work use it but we appreciated your forthrightness about it. I’m just curious how you came to the decision to do that.

Alan Ritchson: Look, no, I didn’t ask permission to talk about it. It’s something that is meaningful and effective in my life, and I don’t want to keep it a secret. I genuinely believe that it can help a lot of men who need help with mood balance, or restoring muscle loss, or have a lot of the symptoms that I had — which, when you have low testosterone, you have trouble breathing, there’s no hemoglobin transfer.

There are a lot of reasons why it’s a good idea for a lot of people, and if I can be a voice in helping to de-stigmatize that as a problem — this is a natural chemical your body makes. It’s wonderfully effective and it can add a lot of vitality to your life. Why would I want to keep that a secret? I want you to feel your best and if there’s a way to help you reach that, then great. This is one way that I’ve learned. It’s something that I need and benefit from, so I’m happy to share it.

Playing Aquaman in Smallville

EI: That’s a great answer. Alan, I’ve got a couple of DC heroes to ask you about. One you have played and one you have not played. Which would you like first?

Alan Ritchson: Let’s go with the one I played because I think I know who we’re talking about for the other one, but go ahead.

EI: I’m sorry, dude. This is the part of the job that *I* have to do. Playing Aquaman in SMALLVILLE was your first-ever acting role. When you look back on those photos of yourself, what comes to mind first and do you ever imagine a butterfly effect career where that spin-off [about his version of Aquaman, which was in discussion at the time] comes to be?

Alan Ritchson: What comes to mind first is how fast and far I can run from all civilization. When I see myself in that orange head-to-toe speedo, zipped up the middle… I see those pictures and I kind of can’t believe anybody thought it was a good idea to dress me like that and photograph me with that ensemble. When you’re just starting out, you do not feel like you have a voice or permission to say anything, so I just never questioned a thing and I wish I had. That Speedo was scary. But I was happy to play Aquaman, happy to kick the door open to Hollywood with that fun character.

Being fan-cast as Batman in the DCU

EI: All right, let’s do it. But I’m going to do it in a nuanced way so you can actually try to articulate some thoughts on it.

Alan Ritchson: I love it. Let’s see what you’ve got.

EI: How does it make you feel about your career and your work that your name is being mentioned as a choice to play one of cinema’s most iconic characters [Batman]?

Alan Ritchson: The fact that people are interested in me playing Batman is a real honor and privilege. It’s one of the first characters I fell in love with as a child. I still remember the big, long gun coming out of Joker’s pants as he goes to shoot down the Batplane in the early days of Batman.

Those iconic moments really resonated with me as a child. For there even to be a conversation or a rumor mill surrounding this role for me is, it’s just…  all I can do is laugh. I just think it’s wild that that’s where we are. Who knows what they have planned for the franchise? If they want to go much younger and tell these origin stories, it sounds like that’s kind of what the plan is, but…

EI: He’s got to be old enough to have a kid!

Alan Ritchson: Okay, then, I’ve got a couple of those so, I’m in!

EI: I’m sorry, man, I’m not gonna let you sneak out like that.

Alan Ritchson: Look, I would love to. I would absolutely love to. It’s one of the coolest characters of all time.

EI: You’ve put in the work. I think anybody who’s followed your career can see that as clear as day. It is awesome to see it all come together the way that it has, and I will just say if Daniel Craig could turn Bond blonde, then you can do the same for Bruce Wayne. Thank you for your time today.

Alan Ritchson: Hey, man, thank you so much.

You can see Alan Ritchson starring in Ordinary Angels, which hits movie theaters on Thursday, February 22.