REACHER STAR ALAN RITCHSON THANKS GOD FOR SAVING HIM FROM SUICIDE
REACHER star Alan Ritchson opened up about how God saved him from his mental health struggles.
In an interview with The Christian Post, he said, “I’m bipolar. I’m temperamental, I’m stubborn, I’m creatively a perfectionist, and I hold people to a ridiculous, ridiculous standard, and myself to an even higher one. And I’m hard to live with.”
Photo from REACHER’s Instagram
In addition to faith, his awareness of his struggles helped the actor overcome them.
“The problem is, it’s less that I doubt God is real or that God cares. It’s more that I doubt that I’m worthy of the love that God gives or that I’m worthy of His attention,” Ritchson confessed. “I thought my career was over a few years ago. I had a run-in with suicide and tried to take my own life. Thank God I was not successful.”
He credited his family, doctors and, most importantly, his faith for his recovery.
“My family was there for me, some doctors were there for me, and I got help and pulled through,” Ritchson remembered. “But I had to find what meaning and purpose look like after that, and it looked like serving others and having a real relationship with God.”
Ritchson left the interview with one piece of encouragement: “I just have to say something that matters; maybe it’ll save someone else from suicide, too. I thought, ‘I’m probably never going to work in the business again.’ And, lo and behold, God’s like, ‘I’m going to give you the most insane career you could ever imagine.’ I continue to try and honor Him, and it’s been a real gift.”
Ritchson now often uses his platform to glorify Christ. He occasionally hosts “Instachurch” on his social media, where he talks about his faith.
In a video last month, he explained why he plays Reacher, even though the character is morally ambiguous.
He also stars in faith-based content, most recently in ORDINARY ANGELS.
“It’s just as important that you’re willing to receive help as a broken individual,” Ritchson told Movieguide® about the movie’s theme. “A lot of us like to think, like, I’m not worthy of that. That’s right, let’s wait till I’m cleaned up and worthy of accepting help, you know, and that completely defeats the purpose of it.”
Movieguide® reported on Ritchson’s latest addition to his resume:
REACHER’s Alan Ritchson and THE KING OF QUEENS frontman Kevin James will star together in the upcoming action-comedy PLAYDATE.
Per Collider, “The movie chronicles the story of Brian (James), a man facing hard times who has recently lost his job and finds himself thrust into the role of a full-time dad to his 10-year-old son. On his first day in this new role, he agrees to a playdate with Jeff (Ritchson), another dad who spends his days at home and surprisingly turns out to be a wild card. The pair of dads and their sons end up spending the day evading a dangerous conspiracy.”
Ritchson shared the news on social media. “I’ve wanted to return to comedy for a few years now and have been looking high and low for the right script,” he wrote. “I’m happy to say, not only did the perfect screenplay find me, but I get to partner with comedic legend @kevinjamesofficial and filmmaker extraordinaire @mr.lukeg.”
“This is gonna be a fun one – a buddy action comedy with unexpected twists and turns, vibrant characters and a ton of heart,” Ritchson concluded.
