Alan Ritchson: The Perfect Choice For Jack Reacher
Every now and then the stars align and TV or movie executives stop snorting coke long enough to realise what the rest of us have known for a long time; that certain actors have been born to play a particular role. Examples of this include Stephen Fry playing Oscar Wilde or Sir Ian McKellen appearing as Gandalf. It is like the actor has spent their entire life preparing for the role, whether knowingly or not, making it impossible – and ultimately futile – for us to imagine anyone else playing that particular character.
Then there are other actors who get given a role and they really, really make it their own. Heath Ledger as The Joker and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow (although it could easily be argued that Keith Richards could claim this too!) very definitely come to mind in this category. The actors’ take is always so unique and thought-provoking it forces us to reassess the character as to how we’ve seen it in the past.
Then there are actors who fit both sub-categories; and Alan Ritchson is one of a very few who do. This is because he not only seems born to play the role of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher but he has approached the role from how it is portrayed in the books – rather than how Hollywood action stars usually play such characters.
Yet, after the insane success of Child’s series of books, Alan wasn’t the movie executives’ first choice to play Jack Reacher. Oh no, far from it…
Reaching for the wrong guy
I love Tom Cruise and watch every movie he makes as soon as it comes out – and what a hit rate he’s had! 10 all-time legendary movies like the Top Gun and Mission Impossible franchises, 13 blockbusters like Days of Thunder and Jerry Maguire, 15 hits, 3 so-so flicks, 2 flops and a single bomb. Enough to net him over $1 billion and a career which has lasted over 40 years and counting. Who else can boast a success rate like that?
But… the Cruiser was a really, really bad choice to play Jack Reacher.
In the books, Reacher is 6 foot 5 (1.96m) and around 250 pounds (115kg), which is almost exactly the same size as the late, great Jonah Lomu was at his peak – and we all know how opposition players got on trying to stop him from doing what he felt like.
In contrast, as everybody knows, Wee Tom is only 5 foot 7 and while fit, he certainly ain’t intimidating. Yet all the movie execs (and probably Tom himself) did the simple math that: popular book series + super successful matinee idol = mega jumbo box office triumph + long-lived franchise series (à la Mission Impossible).
Umm… not necessarily. Whilst the first Jack Reacher (2012) movie was moderately successful, taking in $218 million on a $60 million budget, Tom’s latest Mission retread had taken in over $700 million the year before. Plus, while the movie critics didn’t ‘hate’ Reacher, fans of the books certainly did.
Still, Reacher had done okay enough for Tom and co. to go back to the well for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)… bad idea. This time the movie only took $168 million which, in Cruise World, is a serious stinker. Both critics and the public really, really hated it this time – and said so publicly and repeatedly.
First time around; Reacher fans had grudgingly taken the Tom Cruise involvement in their hero’s stories as a compliment – ‘Hey, Reacher is so cool even the Cruiser wants in on it!’
Second time around; ‘Okay, enough already, get this midget Hollywood turkey out of our paradigm!’
Why Reacher’s size is so important
In all the Reacher stories, Jack usually has to fight several guys at once,Not just normal sized opponents but big, strong, and intimidating enforcer types. Hey, no worries, we’ll just have the ‘team’ ready on standby, in case things go south…
Problem is, Jack Reacher is a loner. He doesn’t have ‘back-up guys’, a tech crew, smart gadgets or even a bunch of good ole buddies he can call up to help out whenever he’s in a tight spot. He doesn’t even have extensive martial arts training, so can’t bust out any super-fast Bruce Lee-type moves to subdue a bunch of hulking thugs giving him a hard time. All he does have is some remembered army combat training, street smarts,and physical size. In short, he isn’t anything like Ethan Hunt.
Yet Tom Cruise played him like your typical Hollywood action hero, equipped with the same polished stunt fighter-inspired moves we’ve seen a million times before – especially during his stints as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible series. Yawn.
Now, I’ve worked with a bunch of guys over the years who are at least 6 foot 5A few of them were solid as well, without being in anywhere near the shape Alan Ritchson is in. Needless to say, I wouldn’t have picked a fight with any of those workmates at the office Christmas party, no matter how drunk we all got. Size really does matter!
So how do you find a better Jack Reacher?
Alan Ritchson is 6 foot 3 (1.9m) and around 250 pounds (115kg) which makes him an almost perfect match size-wise for the book version of Jack Reacher. And that’s not just bulk – it’s prime muscle (but more on that later).
Sure, Alan’s not the only actor kicking around Hollywood matching those Reacher dimensions Unlike most, however, he does have a bunch of other relevant stuff in his background that has helped him prepare for the defining role of his career.
Like Reacher, Ritchson grew up as a ‘military brat’ moving from base-to-base throughout his entire childhood. Born in North Dakota (a military base here was a key setting in 61 Hours), Ritchson then lived in a variety of locations across the U.S. before his family finally settled in Florida (the setting for Tripwire). This upbringing also gave him some genuine prep for the drifter side of a character who is constantly on the move, never settling in one place for longer than a single adventure.
Though Ritchson never served in the military himself, his upbringing meant he was well-versed in the transient, rootless lifestyle guys like Reacher endure as part of their service. Alan also grew up surrounded by guys and gals who were, like Reacher, willing to lay down their lives for what they believe is right. Certainly, Alan’s background was very different from many ofthose actors who came to the profession via who they knew or the well trodden drama school route.
Learning to take the blows
Yet possibly Ritchson’s best training for playing Jack Reacher was experiencing the disappointment we all face at various times in our lives. But it was the way in which Alan Ritchson dealt with his that set him apart from most of his spoiled brat, social media-crying peers.
During his turn as Aquaman on Smallville, the show’s executives were so impressed by Alan’s onscreen presence (and growing fan base) that they hatched a cunning plan to give him his own show. The idea at the time was for the network to do a backdoor pilot starring Ritchson that would lead to a solo Aquaman series.
‘I was promised a spinoff right away,’ Alan told the Hollywood Reporter, ‘The ratings were record-setting in Season Five when I came in. I had all these people in Hollywood saying to me, “You are the guy. You’re going to be No. 1 on the call sheet right away.”’
But then UPN and Warner Bros merged didn’t they, and the new network president knew better than everybody else – of course he did: ‘He looked at the slate and said, “Who is this dude with no résumé at all? He’s not getting his own show.”’
So, thus ended the plans of the mere mortals who’d been working in the trenches producing television that people actually liked. What the hell did they know about actor quality and public likeability? Quick! Get some more Z-grade celebrities onto a cheap and remote Asian location!
Still, Alan put on a brave face after his show negotiations immediately fell apart. ‘It was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It taught me to hold on very loosely to the things that we hope for in this business, to never have any expectations and just enjoy whatever actually manifests.’
Though he didn’t know it yet, such phlegmatism would eventually serve him well in the future as a stoic, world-weary character with a philosophy of ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst.’
From ladies’ to man’s man
Despite appearances, Alan hasn’t always been a buffed-up hulk. When younger, the outrageously good-looking Ritchson was very much a ladies’ man. As a model for Abercrombie and Fitch, images of his lean, scantily-clad body could be found on desktop screensavers or sellotaped to the wall in quite a few office cubicles.
Then there was his memorable audition for American Idol. Paula Abdul virtually had to be prised off Alan with a crowbar by fellow judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson after his rendition of You Are The Sunshine of My Life.. She spoke for a generation of women when she predicted; ‘the girls are going to go ape for you!’
Though Alan didn’t progress far in that competition, TV executives had taken notice – particularly of Abdul’s reaction to him. Thus, they started sneaking him into various episodes of Smallville where he became the aforementioned cameo favourite.
Seizing the spotlight
Alan’s appeal really began to broaden once he landed the role of macho football king Kevin ‘Thad’ Castle on the American Pie-style college sitcom Blue Mountain State. Though not the original focus, Thad became more and more central to the show as the series progressed. Ritchson’s ultra alpha-male performance and comedic timing quickly make him a fan favourite. So much so, that the full-length feature whistled up once the show had ended; Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland, was centred around his character. Thad’s catch cries of ‘Oh no, you didn’t!’, ‘Puke and rally!’ and ‘Protein!’ are still popular and can be found in memes online to this day.
So, now Alan was a cult hero with legions of both college-aged male and female fans. He was ready to step up to the really Big Time.
The Golden Age of Action
The 80s and 90s were undoubtedly the golden period for Hollywood action movies. This was the time of The Terminator, Die Hard, Rambo, Lethal Weapon, RoboCop, Speed and Point Break. A time when we all had a favourite from the massive cast of action stars like; Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Jean-Claude Van Damme and even Steven Seagal.
But easily the biggest star of them all was the massive muscle-bound dude with the almost-impenetrable Austrian accent, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Best of all – and partly due to that unshakeable ultra foreign-sounding enunciation – Arnie developed the skill of keeping his words to a minimum and letting his aura (and body) do most of the work.
And we loved it! During the 80s and 90s every Arnie movie release was a seismic event. The Conans, the Terminators, Commando, Predator, The Running Man, Total Recall, Last Action Hero and True Lies. A roll call of some of the greatest action movies of all time – and all unmistakably Arnie movies, that no one else could do quite like him. As soon as they came out, we were queuing up in the cinemas with popcorn in hand and an excited gleam in our eyes. Hell, we even raced in for Kindergarten Cop and Twins!
Then – sadly, terribly, miserably and horribly! – it all came to an end the moment Arnie traded in the silver screen for the California Governor’s Mansion. In doing so, he left a massive man’s man-shaped hole in the action movie genre which has never really been filled since.
The only major actor with a comparable physical presence in the meantime has been The Rock – although he lacks Arnie’s skill as an actor. Chris Hemsworth is biggish and has comparable charisma without dominating the screen, while other action heroes like Jason Statham and Keanu Reeves are more like Bruce Willis’ John McClane from Die Hard than Arnie’s Terminator or Dutch from Predator.
Call off the search, Arnie 2.0 has been found!
If only there was an Arnie-like actor around today who was tall and physically intimidating enough to play a man who couldn’t be cowed by anybody, let his actions do the talking, spoke only as necessary – and yet appear kind enough to stand up for the little guy against the bullies and thugs of this world…
After the debacle of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Paramount walked away from a planned third film – and eventually the character altogether. Finally, it was Amazon who scooped up the discarded rights and, listening to the books’ fans, they decided to pick an actor who completely filled Jack Reacher’s costume this time. As they also had plans for multiple series, they needed a guy who could play a variety of emotions over an extended run and who had both lasting star quality and existing appeal. He had to be physically capable of intense fight and stunt scenes too.
One name ticked every single one of those boxes: that big sucker who played Thad, what’s his name? – Alan Ritchson.
Buffing up the hero
Though Alan Ritchson was plenty big enough to play Aquaman and a pro football player, he still wasn’t big enough to play a proper Jack Reacher. But once he was offered the part Alan wasn’t going to give the executives any excuse to cut him dry this time, so he hit the gym like a monster.
Luckily for Alan, he already had the physical predisposition for muscle development with his genetics endowing him with favourable muscle shape, fullness, symmetry, and proportions. However, while his existing calisthenics-style fitness regime of bodyweight-based exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups might be good enough for Aquaman and Thad, it just didn’t cut it for Jack.
So, Alan now had to bodybuild like Arnie.
Ritchson began incorporating weightlifting into his routine, focusing on compound movements that target multiple muscle groups to promote muscle growth and strength. To enhance that all-important massive upper body size he’d need to look like Reacher, Ritchson focused on developing his shoulders, chest and latissimus dorsi muscles. This gave him a v-taper which accentuated his powerful look. To get there, his workouts were Arnie-level intense, typically lasting between 20 and 30 minutes, five days a week.
Intake to match the output
But, as Arnie will tell you himself, pumping iron is only half the battle. Diet is equally as important. For Alan to bulk up to Jack Reacher-worthy size, he needed to consume a colossal 4000 calories a day. This took the form of a mix of proteins, carbohydrates and fats – just like Arnie ate in his prime. Although, unlike Arnie – who only allowed himself occasional tiny luxuries like Austrian apple strudel during the competition off-season – Alan often found his hand in the cookie jar. He punishes himself for his lapses; ‘When I go into that gym, I’m like, “I deserve to die for how I’ve eaten,” so I’m going to try to work myself to death. What I would love to find in my life is a balance, where I kind of eat healthy and then don’t have to work quite as hard. But I’m not doing it yet. I like cookie dough too much.’
But even hardened bodybuilding pros like Schwarzenegger understood the mental side of training and that sometimes sugary treats could help them stay mentally focused and dodge burnout during their strict training and diet phases.
Reaching that Reacher level – and staying there
However, sometimes even brutal training and restrictive diet still isn’t enough to get, and stay, massive. One thing Arnie has never admitted, openly at least, is his use of any performance-enhancing stimulants. Although many have speculated he did, as plenty of his peers were using them at the time.
Alan Ritchson is less coy about his use of stimulants however, admitting to Men’s Health Magazine that he was told by the network that they could see he was losing weight on camera. This forced him into drastic measures, such as taking on a course of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) after ‘struggling to maintain mass with Season One’s demanding schedule.’
A medical treatment used to address low testosterone levels, TRT is sometimes used by older men to maintain energy, muscle mass, and overall vitality. Despite being prohibited for use in bodybuilding competition, it is not illegal at all – but its use is often kept private due to the stigma surrounding performance-enhancing treatments.
Measuring up for the job
An actor can be absolutely note-perfect for a role,or can make an impact with their individual interpretation of a famous character. But that doesn’t necessarily mean life gets easy. Heath Ledger famously locked himself away in a hotel room diving into nihilism and scribbling in a diary for six weeks straight in order to find the essence of his Joker persona in The Dark Knight. Similarly, Daniel Day-Lewis spent time in the wilderness learning how to hunt, skin animals and build canoes for his role in The Last of the Mohicans.
Though Alan Ritchson inherited some of the attributes he’d need for Jack Reacher from both his parents’ genes and their lifestyle, he still had to bring an awful lot more to the table to measure up. During his career he has worked on his charm, his acting skills, crafted his versatility and done the real hard yards in sculpting his body to the extent he can genuinely be compared to the 7-time Mr Olympia bodybuilding champion Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I guess that’s why it took quite a while for the perfect guy to play Jack Reacher to be found.