Easily one of the hottest celebrities in Hollywood right now, Alan Ritchson is finally riding all the high waves of success and fame that he had been chasing for decades in the entertainment industry. An iconic Jack Reacher—perhaps the best to have existed and to ever exist—he is nailing every role thrown his way, proving his tremendous worth time and time again.
But Ritchson has also seemingly fallen short by quite a bit extent. As it turns out, the 41-year-old actor was also among the contestants auditioning for the role of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s God of Thunder. However, for reasons unknown, Ritchson took the role as unseriously as ever, thinking it wouldn’t involve acting, and ended up losing out on the major role.
Alan Ritchson Lost Out on Thor Due to a Silly Mistake
For one who has long been in the entertainment field as a multi-faceted talent, Alan Ritchson‘s acting debut came with Smallville from 2005 to 2010, where he brought to life Aquaman aka Arthur Curry in guest roles across the fifth to the tenth seasons. But to gain that firmer edge in the industry, he needed a major role that could make him a household name.
One of the major roles on his list of auditions was that of MCU’s Thor. Back in 2011, when the casting was still in the works for the role, the Blue Mountain State star decided to be one of the contestants competing for the role. But instead of being serious about it and giving the best audition of his lifetime, Ritchson seemingly ended up being as non-serious about it as ever.
In his defense, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare star thought that this superhero role would only seek him if he looked appropriate for the role and not if he acted according to it. To say the least, he thought playing the God of Thunder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn’t quite involve acting and even the casting would presumably be made on the basis of physical features.
During an interview with Men’s Health, the 41-year-old candidly confessed the same while admitting the personal perspective he had on the casting process for this Norse god taking place, saying:
I didn’t take it seriously. I was like, ‘They’ll throw me the part if I look like the guy; nobody really cares about acting.’
Of course, little did Ritchson know that he couldn’t be more wrong about it all. Unsurprisingly enough, thanks to the way he approached the role, he wasn’t chosen for the role despite sporting the perfect body for the character. As Ritchson shared, his team was told that the role had been his to lose but he hadn’t shown that he had “the craft” for it.
As fans already know, in his stead was brought forward Chris Hemsworth, who did such a tremendous job at embodying this Odinson that now fans can’t envision anyone else in the role. But while that was the end of the road for Ritchson and the former king of both Asgard and New Asgard, the actor finally got his breakthrough a decade later with Reacher.
Reacher Eventually Led the Big Change in Alan Ritchson’s Career
After getting dropped from the lead role of the 2011 masterpiece, Ritchson went ahead to try his hand at other major roles. This included a failed attempt at that of Finnick Odair, later played by Sam Claflin, in 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and brief appearances in projects like Black Mirror, New Girl, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Within a year, he made his way into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe as he voiced Raphael for the 2014 titular movie. And while this followed with another audition for Titans, it all eventually laid the groundwork for his casting in Reacher – the very series that is currently having Ritchson rage as one of the hottest hotshots in the industry.
While his “unexpected depth” and “dead-on” physicality were some of the features that had him cast in the role, the Ordinary Angels star eventually realized he had scored the recognition he so desperately sought all these years through this role. As he confessed to Men’s Health:
I had about 50 offers the weekend after season 1 of Reacher opened [in 2022]. I knew my life had changed.
Needless to say, Alan Ritchson’s life and career most certainly seem to have changed for the better for him considering how he is currently going as strong as ever in the series which has its third season in the works and exclusively ranks at a stunning 95% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Guess hard work and patience definitely do pay off!
Reacher is currently available to be streamed on Prime Video and Thor can be watched on Disney+.
