Alan Ritchson is a force of nature in Prime Video’s “Reacher,” where he delivers a compelling, book-accurate performance of the titular drifter with a penchant for solving crimes.
Ritchson balances Reacher’s brute strength with the perfect amount of vulnerability, painting him as a man fiercely dedicated to the cause, willing to evolve as a person when the situation demands so. While Reacher is perhaps one of his best roles so far, Ritchson’s career is marked with performances that need to be highlighted, given how often they tend to be overlooked.
Before Ritchson started playing buff dudes who could beat up anyone in the room, he embodied a diverse range of characters on both the big and small screens.
Ritchson started his career with a recurring guest role in the DC Comics series “Smallville,” where he played Arthur Curry/Aquaman — a role he reprised when he voiced the character in the animated film, “Justice League: The New Frontier.” The actor went on to appear in brief roles in “Black Mirror,” “CSI: Miami,” “90210,” and “Hawaii-Five-0,” and also played Hawk in “Titans,” while appearing in a cameo role in CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
Ritchson’s earliest movie credits include “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (where he plays the violent tribute, Gloss), the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot, and “Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland,” among others. He also directed and co-wrote the 2021 comedy thriller, “Dark Web: Cicada 3301.” As there is much ground to cover, let us jump right into some of Ritchson’s best roles over the years, ranked in ascending order.
7. Gloss: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Lionsgate
In “The Hunger Games” franchise, District 1 tributes have always been known for their ruthlessness, and Gloss was no different. The winner of the 63rd Hunger Games, Gloss won The Capitol over during the Quarter Quell due to his Career Tribute status, while the strong political alliance between his district and The Capitol inevitably worked in his favor.
His sister, Cashmere, was also a victor, and joined him during the Quarter Quell, the two of them sticking together as a team to take out the others with brutal effectiveness.
In the books, Katniss describes Gloss and Cashmere as “polite, but cool,” where the duo make some attempts to win her alliance, but eventually fail. Ritchson portrayed Gloss as a formidable fighter, particularly adept at knife-throwing, which earned with a very high score during the evaluation trials.
In the games, Gloss was a member of the Career pack with Cashmere, Brutus, and Enobaria, who were the most vicious during the bloodbath after the games began. Although Ritchson’s potential is barely on display here, he balances the character’s innate bloodlust with benign complacency to Capitol hypocrisy, as he views them as his “family” without ever questioning the brutality inherent in their broken system. As Gloss’ role is fairly limited when compared to the bigger scheme of things in “Catching Fire,” this is a case of an actor doing their best with what they have been given.
6. Agent Aimes: Fast X
Universal Pictures
The latest entry in the “Fast & Furious” franchise might feel hysterically exaggerated (like many of its predecessors), but it delivers exactly what it promises while centering on a villain who delightfully shatters the self-seriousness of the franchise to smithereens.
While Jason Momoa’s Dante is the clear highlight of “Fast X,” Ritchson’s Aimes injects a great amount of depth and badassery into the grittier, action-focused scenes in the film. After becoming the new leader of the Agency by swiftly replacing Mr. Nobody, Aimes harbors complicated motivations toward Dom (Vin Diesel) and his team after a mission gone wrong in Rome.
Ritchson is pitch-perfect for the role, as Aimes is portrayed as a man with newfound ambition, willing to go to any lengths to solidify his dreams. Although the greatest strength of the character lies in the twist towards the end (which I won’t spoil), it is a treat to watch Ritchson play Aimes with straight-edged sincerity, like he’s in a spy-thriller where being a double agent is the name of the game.
Some of the overtly dramatic, ultimately lackluster action moments feel decidedly grounded whenever Aimes is around, making his beef with Dom seem more believable while everything around them is lifted mid-air and engulfed in flames.
5. Hank/Hawk: Titans
DC Universe
“Titans” might not have been the most creatively mature or interesting take on the adult version of the Teen Titans, but Ritchson’s Hank Hall/Hawk is a standout even amid the corny writing and convoluted plot structure that spanned three seasons.
Hawk is the quintessential vigilante, who wants to make the world a better place, but his trauma ignites some of the darkest aspects of his character, propelling him toward a mindless obsession with the idea of justice.
Although these nuances are not fleshed out in the best ways, Ritchson’s performance is as layered as it gets, as he imbues Hawk with blunt machismo while juggling hidden vulnerabilities that manifest as ruthless, impulsive vigilantism.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of “Titans” is that the show struggles with narrative focus, and it doesn’t quite know what it stands for, leading to cluttered storylines and promising character arcs that are thwarted abruptly in favor of grander conflicts.
The gritty, unforgiving setting of Gotham often clashes violently with the melodramatic tussles between the Titans, leaving little room for nuanced worldbuilding or character growth. Unfortunately, Hawk’s arc suffers from the same treatment, laying the character’s potential to evolve into a tortured hero ravaged by personal loss to waste.
4. Arthur Curry/Aquaman: Smallville
The CW
“Smallville” exclusively focuses on the arc of a younger Clark Kent (Tom Welling), diving into the struggles on his path to becoming Superman, where he has to contend with his growing powers and even bigger burden of responsibilities.
Ritchson’s Aquaman is one of many younger superheroes Clark gets acquainted with, and his debut in season 5 of the show is seminal, as it introduces higher stakes and veers the story into fresh directions.
After saving Lois Lane from drowning, Arthur positions himself as a foil to Clark, who is immediately suspicious of his motives, and the two fight when Arthur plans to blow up LuthorCorp’s marine facility. However, this tussle is just a misunderstanding, as Arthur ends up explaining that LuthorCorp’s actions are actively harming marine life, and he simply wishes to save his friends.
Ritchson plays Arthur as somewhat self-centered, but this personality aspect translates well as this is a younger version of a character who is yet to mature and inherit his legacy. This was the first official live-action portrayal of the DC Comics superhero, and Ritchson’s portrayal highlighted the potential inherent in the character aside from his role in the Justice League. Although not a strictly memorable role as far as Ritchson is concerned, it is an important one that is worth considering.
3. Shane Blackwell: Above the Shadows
Gravitas Ventures
The focus of “Above the Shadows” is Holly (Olivia Thirby), who plays a mourning daughter devastated by the loss of her mother, who completely isolates herself from the world.
She meets a disgraced MMA fighter, Shane (Ritchson), and this meeting reignites her lust for life while dabbling into the emotional complexities that come with being unjustly shunned by the world. There’s a tint of magic realism to the tale, where love acts as a portal to a brighter, kinder future, and both Thirby and Ritchson do justice to their roles while bringing this bittersweet story to life.
Despite being a flawed exploration of personal desires that often clash with worldly perceptions, Ritchson’s portrayal of Shane is sincere and compelling enough to make us root for him, highlighting the actor’s ability to take on more complex roles that warrant an innate understanding of how loss shapes an individual.
When evaluated as a whole, the film presents some thoughtful ideas about looking at the world from the sidelines, where grief is intricately woven with identity, and how these contrapuntal notions contribute to the concepts of desire and self-worth. A few contrived emotional moments aside, it is a journey that is worth your time.
2. Arthur Bailey: Blood Drive
Syfy
“Blood Drive” is one of those shows that is eccentric enough to be labeled as niche, sporting a satirical, grindhouse tint while being set in an alternative universe that feels dystopian (despite being set in 1999).
The environmental conditions in this alternate Earth are worse than our current one, as a megacorporation exploits the formation of a natural ravine called The Scar, which cleaves the Mississippi into two.
Ritchson takes on a Reacher-esque role here as LA police officer Arthur Bailey, who needs to participate in a death race — on vehicles that run on human blood — to discover unsavory secrets about government conspiracies and the evil machinations of the megacorporation, ironically dubbed Heart Enterprises.
There are plenty of dramatic curveballs that keep “Blood Drive” rolling, and Ritchson’s performance as Arthur is one of his best, as he gets to lean into the bizarre premise of the show and offer something wholly different from what he’s known best for.
Ritchson’s dynamic performance aside, “Blood Drive” is pure entertainment fuel, and even when the most outlandish parts leave us shocked and baffled, the show never takes itself too seriously when it ramps up on the grime and the gore. In all seriousness, it would be interesting to see Ritchson in more wacky, horror-adjacent projects that sport a tongue-in-cheek attitude along with smart, sharp writing.
1. Ed Schmitt: Ordinary Angels
Lionsgate
Ritchson delivers a career-best performance in his recently released “Ordinary Angels,” which also stars Hilary Swank and Nancy Travis. In this faith-based drama, Swank plays Sharon, a small-town hairdresser who relies on alcoholic revelry to skate through life, but is moved to do better when she finds out about an ill child who recently lost her mother.
Ritchson plays Ed, the devastated husband of the deceased woman, who is too broken to function and is understandably wary of Sharon’s sudden interest in the plight of his grieving family. The nature of the role demands incredible emotional depth, one that Ritchson commendably invests in when bringing such a broken character to life.
As Ritchson is mostly known to play characters who speak with their fists or deliver overtly heroic monologues in a rather straightforward fashion, his Ed is a welcome departure, as the character conveys his turmoils through subtle physicality alone.
Every emotionally vulnerable moment shared between Sharon and Ed elevates the drabber aspects of the film, as it manages to feel authentic without being too sentimental or dramatic. As Ritchson is capable of inhabiting complex characters who thrive in unspoken subtleties, it is high time that the “Reacher” star gets the opportunity to do so in roles that are innately challenging or eccentric in the best of ways.
