Actor Alan Ritchson has gained notoriety for his role as Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher. The actor, who has been a part of multiple franchises before, starred in the titular role that was previously portrayed by Tom Cruise in the movies. The series is based on the popular novels of Lee Child.
While Ritchson is finally getting his due as an actor, he did not start his career as one. He initially wanted to pursue a music career and had auditioned for American Idol, where he crooned for judge Paula Abdul. While the actor may have forgotten about his embarrassing memory, his co-stars on Reacher made sure that he remembered.
Alan Ritchson’s Stint On American Idol
Alan Ritchson is not a stranger to big franchise TV. He got his breakout role as Arthur Curry a.k.a Aquaman in the CW show Smallville, where he appeared in four episodes. After multiple TV appearances, he had his first leading role in the TV show Blue Mountain State, playing the role of the college linebacker Thad Castle.
The show ran for three seasons and even had a film, which featured Ritchson in the lead role as well as a producer and a writer. He also featured as Gloss in The Hunger Games franchise.
Before his acting career skyrocketed, Alan Ritchson actually came into the arts to pursue a music career. He has often flexed his vocal cords in his off-screen appearances and also released his independent album called This is Next Time. In pursuit of his singing career, he auditioned for the third season of American Idol.
The actor gained the attention of Judge Paula Abdul due to his insanely good looks and to top it off, crooned a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s You Are the Sunshine of My Life in front of her while holding her hand. He got promoted to the next round where he had to discontinue after he reportedly gave a Magic Mike-esque performance.
Alan Ritchson’s Reacher Co-Stars Pranked Him With His Audition
Though his audition for American Idol was almost two decades ago, Alan Ritchson’s co-stars on Reacher did not seem to have let him forget about it. In an interview with IMDB, Ritchson recalled a prank that the cast pulled on the sets when they immediately broke into song right before filming a scene. The song that they sang was ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’, the same song that was rendered by Ritchson in his audition.
His co-star Willa Fitzgerald mentioned that they wanted to pay tribute to his smash hit after getting to know about his ‘illustrious past’. Alan Ritchson recalled the moment the cast started singing and what he felt,
“I’m thinking I’m about to do a scene and everybody’s on their knees singing like I’m Paula Abdul, I was like, ‘What the hell is going on right now?’ I was so confused, and then I see the American Idol badges and I’m like, ‘Oh. Oh.’ You guys did some deep digging.”
The cast and crew also reportedly wore American Idol badges with the number that he had while Ritchson was auditioning. Talk about committing to the joke!
