Can Reacher’s Alan Ritchson Get Any Bigger?

All the while, he and his merry band of ethical killers execute impossible-to-believe escape moves. At the end of season two, Reacher saves one of his associates-slash-love-interests from falling out of a helicopter by pulling her back in with one arm. There’s a scene where a dozen bikers corner Reacher’s squad in a parking lot and they simply murder their way out. No one seems to notice. The same is true of when a quaint, residential home gets pipe-bombed and showered with bullets. Reacher always gets away, and at the end of each season, he packs up and leaves town when the job is done, a self-described hobo who goes wherever he’s needed.

The transient nature of his character is somewhat familiar for Ritchson. “The negative side is, does life imitate art? At least once a year, is he going to have to bust some huge scam?” Child asks rhetorically.

Born in North Dakota to a schoolteacher mother and a father who retired from the Air Force as a chief master sergeant, Ritchson’s family briefly moved to Illinois during his childhood before settling in Niceville, Florida, where he was classmates with the ghoulish politician Matt Gaetz, who has been accused (among other things) of paying for sex with a 17-year-old. The mere mention of Gaetz’s name puts a charge into Ritchson.

“That motherfucker. We are adversaries,” he sighs. “It’s shocking to me that the panhandle of Florida continues to vote for somebody—knowing everything we know about him and the promises that he’s made behind closed doors about pardoning certain criminals—he’s just not a good dude! There’s part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good, and there’s part of me that’s like, I’m not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics. There are certain people that do a good job of staying true to who they are, but they’re ineffective. I think Bernie Sanders is a hero. But it’s like, what has he accomplished?”

These sorts of contemplative, nuanced admissions are the things that often surprise people about Ritchson. The show that made him a star is as macho as it gets. The sheer amount of weaponry in play makes it feel almost like pornography for right-wing Second Amendment types. And as a character, Reacher is tactically stoic, careful not to reveal any emotions that could come back to bite him. But the real Ritchson doesn’t fit that mold at all. He is thoughtful and inquisitive, complimenting my jacket and mixing in some questions about my own upbringing as we eat. He’s got a disarming pair of kind eyes that light up when he’s excited, and an unassailable charm. He’s prone to saying, “Dude!” when agreeing with something I say or “Yes and”-ing with his own point. Imagine if your sweetest childhood friend got jacked and made it big in Hollywood.

But unlike your stereotypical buff guy, Ritchson also possesses a deep vulnerability, and is extremely forthcoming about things like drug usage (“I think the most peaceful world would be one where everybody has tried mushrooms”), fatherhood, and a suicide attempt that he discussed at length in a 2024 Hollywood Reporter feature. On the drug front, he’s a big proponent of progressive therapeutic practices that utilize psilocybin as well as ketamine and MDMA, pointing out that MDMA therapy is one of the only proven treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder. He is not only an advocate, but a true MDMA success story. “My experience with it was out of desperation,” he says. “It was like, Well, I could kill myself at any point, so I might as well try everything. Truly, I felt a light switch come on. It was wildly healing.” When discussing the suicide attempt, he does so in a way that frames it as a win, rather than a near loss of life.