Alan Ritchson is opening up about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder five years ago, when he was 36 years of age.
The 41-year-old actor spoke about his diagnosis in a wide-ranging interview with Men’s Health to promote his new movie Ordinary Angels, in theaters now.
The actor admitted to ‘manic behavior’ on the set of Reacher in the first season, which ultimately caused a stunt coordinator to briefly leave the show.
Ritchson – who said in December that he lives like a nomad with his wife and their kids – said he would refuse to leave the set for a stuntman to take over, adding, ‘I was like, “I’m doing the f***ing stunt.” It was manic behavior.’
Ritchson admitted that the stunt coordinator left because he felt Ritchson was being too reckless and wasn’t following his instructions, though he ultimately returned.
Alan Ritchson is opening up about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder five years ago, when he was 36 years of age
The 41-year-old actor spoke about his diagnosis in a wide-ranging interview with Men’s Health to promote his new movie Ordinary Angels, in theaters now
The actor admitted to ‘manic behavior’ on the set of Reacher in the first season, which ultimately caused a stunt coordinator to briefly leave the show
He’s been learning how to monitor his behavior through therapy, with his wife Catherine and his assistant having a ‘deep understanding’ of bipolar disorder.
He adds that his manic behavior at home, ‘manifests in relatively harmless ways,’ as he provided an example.
‘It’s this thing like, “I gotta find a perfectly white pair of shoes that look like a tennis shoe but arent,”‘ he admitted.
‘Three days later, eight pairs of shoes show up that are all identical. And I’m like, “Oh, s**t, I’m manic right now,”‘ he admitted.
The manic periods are said to be more common than depressive periods for most bipolar patients, though Ritchson says he has more manic episodes.
‘When I’m feeling depressed, it doesn’t really matter, because I am so focused at work,’ he admitted.
‘I could go weeks without people even knowing I feel a certain way,’ he added, noting that was not the case during his manic episodes.
‘When I’m manic and I feel like something isn’t living up to its best potential, it usually comes out in a very—not in a mean way—but in a “this has to be better” way. Like a very, almost obsessive “this has to be better,”‘ he added.
He’s been learning how to monitor his behavior through therapy, with his wife Catherine and his assistant having a ‘deep understanding’ of bipolar disorder
He adds that his manic behavior at home, ‘manifests in relatively harmless ways,’ as he provided an example
‘It’s this thing like, “I gotta find a perfectly white pair of shoes that look like a tennis shoe but arent,”‘ he admitted
‘Three days later, eight pairs of shoes show up that are all identical. And I’m like, “Oh, s**t, I’m manic right now,”‘ he admitted
The manic periods are said to be more common than depressive periods for most bipolar patients, though Ritchson says he has more manic episodes
‘When I’m manic and I feel like something isn’t living up to its best potential, it usually comes out in a very—not in a mean way—but in a “this has to be better” way. Like a very, almost obsessive “this has to be better,”‘ he added
Still, the disorder has helped him build a sense of identity that is separate from his acting career.
He also opened up about his new movie Ordinary Angels, where he plays a widowed father trying to save his critically ill young daughter.
Ritchson admitted to taking the role because he, ‘needed a stark juxtaposition’ from his Reacher role.
He spent a month and a half after wrapping on Reacher Season 2 to lose as much weight as he could, as his co-star Hilary Swank admitted to being surprised.
‘He wasn’t as big as I thought he was going to be, per what I was told. It’s such a great reminder not to pigeonhole people. Because we can be so much more than people allow us to be when they give us the opportunity,’ she said.
