Alan Ritchson: From Struggles to Action Hero Stardom

He's best known for playing Jack Reacher, a retired Military Police Officer who finds himself at the centre of a deadly conspiracy after being arrested for a he didn't commit. 

And Alan Ritchson's real life experience over the past few days could well be a storyline straight out of the Amazon Prime series, with the actor shocking fans on Monday when in a bloody street brawl. 

A video obtained by TMZ showed the 6ft3in, 16 stone, leading man striking Ronnie Taylor on the ground several times during a row about the speed in which he had been driving his motorcycle through the quiet residential street. 

It was not until the following day that bodycam footage emerged online, giving a broader view of what really happened between the two men, and showing that it was Taylor who had initiated a physical fight with Ritchson by pushing the actor off his Kawasaki bike.

After the video emerged, police confirmed to Daily Mail that they , saying the actor had acted in self defence when he punched Taylor.

While Ritchson has not publicly commented on the brawl, he is no stranger to being misunderstood or prejudged, having broken down boundaries by becoming an unlikely Hollywood action star. 

To look at, Ritchson - a mountain of muscle whose roles often require him to be shirtless and scowling - could be seen as a visual representation of toxic masculinity. 

Yet he has revealed over the years that this couldn't be further than a truth, proving himself to be a doting father, loving husband and philanthropist who is keen to push the conversation about men's mental health. 

He fell into acting, having dreamed of being a baseball player in his youth but becoming enamoured with the arts after signing up to acting class to spend time with a girl he fancied. 

Ritchson went on to explore singing and a form of competitive acting called forensics, before studying theatre at Northwest Florida State College. 

He was working at a sandwich shop to get by when it was suggested he could make money in modelling, prompting him to drop out and move to Miami where he landed campaigns with the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch. 

Yet he left the industry traumatised after being sexually assaulted on a photoshoot with a 'very famous photographer', whose name he has not disclosed. 

Ritchson told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this guy.'

The North Dakota native said he immediately left the photoshoot, quit the industry and that the photographs were never seen or published. 

'That was it. I swore it off and thank God acting found me at the exact same time so I was able to make a switch to a new career, but it left some scars,' he explained. 

Ritchson added that there were numerous occasions when he found himself in similar situations where sexual abuse seemed to be the objective, and the paycheque he desperately needed to survive served as the incentive.

'You’re always dancing around this very terrible line of, "How do I keep the job and not completely offend this photographer or this agent or whoever set this thing up, and how do I not get raped?"'

He added: 'If I really had to, I could get myself out of whatever room I was in through a physical altercation. Most women don’t have that option. Imagine how terrifying it must be.'

After turning his back on the modelling industry, Ritchson was encouraged to audition for American Idol, which was then on his second season. 

Egged on by friends and emboldened by youth, the then 20-year-old appeared on the series but while he didn't make it to the live shows he did make headlines for serenading Paula Abdul on camera. 

He told GQ: 'It was a fun experience. How I was portrayed on TV was very different to what I experienced in real life. But it was a good lesson for me in knowing how important it is to insulate yourself from producer narratives.'

Pivoting back to acting, Ritchson managed to land a few small roles but found himself subject to more sexual harassment. 

He revealed his producing partner threatened to ruin him if he refused to engage in a sexual relationship with her.

'She gave me an ultimatum to come to her room and said that if I didn’t, she would destroy the business and she would destroy me by calling TMZ to claim I sexually assaulted her,' he said.

'It was really disappointing and became a perfect storm. It really broke me in that moment, and it took me a while to recover. I was super depressed and didn’t know how to navigate that.'

Ritchson struggled with his mental health but continued to work in order to support his wife Catherine and their three sons. 

He made his breakthrough as Aquaman / Arthur Curry on The CW superhero series Smallville before headlining the SyFy action series Blood Drive and starring as Hank Hall / Hawk on the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans.

Yet despite his newfound fame and successful carder, in 2019 he reached breaking point with his mental health and attempted to take his own life.

'I hung myself. It all happened so fast, and I was dangling there,' he told THR.

He credits divine intervention for what followed next. In a vision, his sons, now aged 13, 12, and 10, appeared to him as adults in their mid-30s, just a few years younger than he was then.

'They calmly asked me not to do it, and told me that they wanted me to be here, alive and part of their lives.'

He said he was then able to pull himself up off the rafters before blacking out.

'I was diagnosed as bipolar right after. Deep down, I was comforted to know, "OK, there’s a name for this."'

After the diagnosis, a friend suggested he try MDMA therapy with his wife Catherine.

'I had never done drugs but I was truly, like, "Well, I might kill myself tomorrow, what do I have to lose?" So, I did it.

'I swear to God, the biggest light bulb went off, and it rewired my brain in the best way. MDMA is a proven therapy to treat PTSD in veterans, and it’s something that can work in cognitive therapy settings.'

The therapy session made him reflect on his existential journey and conclude that his purpose is 'to make the world a better place and serve others.'

Ritchson's epiphany prompted him to seek out more fulfilling opportunities in his career, ultimately leading him to the 2022 TV series Reacher.

Yet he still struggled to live with bipolar, with his 'manic behavior' while filming season one of the action series resulting in a stunt coordinator leaving the show.

Ritchson revealed he would refuse to leave the set for a stuntman to take over: 'I was like, "I’m doing the f***ing stunt." It was manic behavior.'

He admitted that the stunt coordinator left because he felt Ritchson was being too reckless and wasn't following his instructions, though he ultimately returned.

While Ritchson still struggles with the disorder, he revealed he was learning how to monitor his behavior through therapy, with his wife Catherine and his assistant having a 'deep understanding' of bipolar disorder.

He added to Men's Health 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 aren't,"' 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.

'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.

Ritchson also has to manage his condition while living a nomadic lifestyle. 

The actor revealed in 2023 that he had sold his Florida home and his family were staying in Airbnbs or hotels so that they have to be apart for long periods of time.

While on the road, the Fast X star's wife home-schools their sons.