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These days, Alan Ritchson is best known for playing the titular character on the hit Prime Video action series Reacher, which is based on Lee Childs’ series of books.
20 years ago, though, Ritchson was just like every Hollywood hopeful trying to make a name for himself.
But while Ryan Gosling was famously on the Mickey Mouse Club when he was younger, Ritchson’s early on-camera appearances come from a different source entirely: an American Idol audition.
In the year 2004, when he was 20 years old, Ritchson went to an Atlanta audition for the long-running reality competition series and not only made it to air but also got judge Paula Abdul all hot and bothered with his movie star looks.
“There was this one guy in Atlanta. His name was Alan Ritchson. And he’s totally hot. Randy and Simon decided to leave the table and let Alan sing the whole audition to me,” Abdul told the American Idol cameras.
Ritchson wound up getting a “yes” — meaning he’d advance to the next round — from all the judges, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell included.
A year after appearing on American Idol, Ritchson made his professional acting debut as Arthur Curry / Aquaman on Smallville, a part he sporadically played until 2010.
His breakthrough role came in 2010 when he began starring in the cult comedy series Blue Mountain State (recent reports indicate that Ritchson is attached to a sequel series that’s being shopped).
From there, Ritchson bounced around Hollywood for a few years, with his most consistent role being Hank Hall / Hawk in the DC shows Titans, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow. His ascendency to A-list status finally came in 2022 when he began starring as Jack Reacher on Reacher, which is currently in production on its third season.
Ritchson parlayed his Reacher success into a role in Fast X, the upcoming Guy Ritchie movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and the upcoming Christmas action movie The Man with the Bag alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.
His rise to the top might not be done, in fact, as he’s also a popular choice among fans to be cast as Batman in the upcoming DCU franchise.