Reacher Star Alan Ritchson Shares How He Bulked Up to Play the Action Hero

Alan Ritchson explains how he was able to quickly pack on 30 pounds to be more bulked up for his starring role in Reacher.

While Reacher star Alan Ritchson had the height to effectively portray Jack Reacher, putting on the pounds to better look the part was a lot of work for the actor.

Though Ritchson is slightly shorter than how Jack is described in the original novels by Lee Child, the actor’s casting has been widely praised by fans, as many have declared this matching to be perfect. Previously, it had been reported that Ritchson had gained 30 pounds in a matter of months to be more believable as the popular action hero.

In a new interview with GQ, the actor explains how not all of that is necessarily muscle, but as he took no shortcuts in bulking up, it took a ton of hard work to get there. In fact, Ritchson says he was even training too much, getting to where he actually needed surgery due to the damage he’d done to his body as a result.

“I want to clarify one thing because in every interview someone says ‘30 pounds of muscle’. I put on 30 pounds! I don’t know how much of that was lean muscle,” Ritchson said. “I went from 205lb to 235lb in eight months, I was eating a ton. I don’t think all of that was muscle.

A good chunk was – a little more than half, maybe. But I didn’t take steroids, I didn’t take testosterone. There was only one way to get where I needed to be and that was hard work.

I f**king wrecked my body, dude. It was too much. I didn’t have time to heal. I would strain something and I was like, ‘I don’t care! I’m working through it!’ I suffered the consequences.”

Ritchson continued, “When I finished [Season 1], I needed surgery. I couldn’t breathe well. I got a blood panel done and found out I had no testosterone left [because of overtraining].

My doctor was like, ‘You need to be on testosterone.’ [Testosterone therapy] was a real gift because now I’m able to easily maintain that size. My workouts are short and sweet – maybe 30 minutes a day.”

Alan Ritchson Says Size Doesn’t Matter

Ritchson went on to share his thoughts on how Jack Reacher’s size is a big aspect of the character, but perhaps not the most important one. The actor said how the “heart” of his Jack Reacher is the character’s sense of humor, which Ritchson credits for helping keep the show’s fans entertained in each episode.

“There’s no doubt that people place a big emphasis on his size, but to me, the character is much more than that,” Ritchson said. “The heart of the character really lies in his sardonic sense of humor, which is incredibly fun to play.

He’s a smart guy, and isn’t afraid to be a smart-ass. That underlying humor is what brings depth to him as a character, and also keeps audiences entertained.”

The first two seasons of Reacher are streaming on Prime Video. Season 3 does not yet have a premiere date set.