Reacher’s Alan Ritchson Talks How Being Bipolar Helps His Craft

You may not have heard of Reacher's Alan Ritchson, yet. But millions of Netflix fans have found their newest superhero. But this Marvel-like hero, does not have super-powers, or at least we don't think so. Reacher at 6-3, is just a good guy loner. He's a BAD MO FO, who is as strong as they come and more dangerous than the scariest of bad guys. If you mess with his friends or old Army buddies, it's already too late. Reacher is standing behind you right now, and it's lights out.

Wikipedia writes:

The book series chronicles the adventures of Jack Reacher, former Major in the United States Army Military Police Corps, now drifter, roaming the United States taking odd jobs and investigating suspicious and frequently dangerous situations, some of which are of a personal nature. The Reacher series has maintained a schedule of one book per year, except for 2010, when two installments were published. 

The author is Lee Child, who created a character so interesting, it was turned into a 2012 movie starring Tom Cruise. What followed was a 2016 season of TV episodes that became SO popular, Netflix rolled out Season Two this month, and is now working on a season three, all based on the books. But be WARNED, true Reacher fans will tell you that the Cruise movie doesn't nearly capture the character the way the TV series does, keeping it close to the books.

When I think of the character, a first comparison that I can make is to Sly Stallone's Rambo.  A former skilled military expert that now lives his life righting wrongs.

But, no slam to Sly, Ritchson is simply a better actor. Add to that, the character is smarter than Rambo. With Alan you get more from his few lines, than you did with Sly. Reacher seems like a buddy you want to hang with. While we liked Rambo, having a beer with him alone is not your first thought.

What's fascinating about Reacher's character, is his many attributes. First, let's look at his size. At 6-3, he's a Super-hero presence, with giant Hulk like muscles and strength, but he's human. Instead of a menacing presence like Rambo, he's a nice guy, until you piss him off. Ritchson's TV version has less lines than most lead characters in a hit series. Unlike Sly Stallone's Rambo, Ritchson's heart comes through his tough guy persona, in a more authentic manner than Stallone's over-the-top tough guy. As mentioned above, Reacher is highly intelligent. Without spoiling it, the opening scene of Season Two, sizes up Reacher in five minutes, to set you up for the ride of your life.

In a recent chat with Michael Rosenbaum, Alan shares what it's like about being bipolar, and how it actually came in handy with his acting.

Reacher Season One and Two is on Netflix right now. But be warned, Reacher's Alan Ritchson may become a new favorite Superhero, to your wife.

Right before the end of the year, Netflix shared new information about their viewers. Since launching their weekly Top 10 and Most Popular lists two years ago, the streaming giant has been providing more information about what people are watching. On Tuesday (December 12), Netflix published their What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report, which is a comprehensive report of what people watched on Netflix over a six-month period (January to June 2023). They took into account the hours viewed for every single title they have as their original content as well as licensed content that was watched for over 50,000 hours, the premiere date for the content, runtimes, and whether a title was available worldwide.

In total, this new report covers more than 18,000 titles — representing 99% of all viewing on Netflix — and nearly 100 billion hours viewed. Over 60% of Netflix titles released in the first six months of the year simultaneously appeared on their weekly Top 10 lists. So, while this report is broader in scope, the trends reflected similarly mimic those in the Top 10 lists. For example, television series Ginny & Georgia, Alice in Borderland, The Marked Heart, Outer Banks, You, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, XO Kitty, and films Murder Mystery 2 and Extraction 2. Meanwhile, new series like The Night Agent, The Diplomat, Beef, and FUBAR generated huge audiences. Non-English stories garnered 30% of all viewing, and older, licensed titles were in demand from Netflix. 55% of viewing came from Netflix films and series, while 45% came from licensed titles, like Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Suits.

Netflix said in their report that this would be bi-annual data that would show the engagement of their viewers. They claim that the information provided will "give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences and what resonates with them." Take a look below at Netflix's 7 Most-Viewed Items for the first half of the year:

Based on the novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the series follows Teresa Mendoza, a naive woman and girlfriend of a Mexican involved in drug trafficking, who becomes the leader of a drug cartel. The third season of the series was released on December 30, 2022, not globally, and watched for 429,600,000 hours.

What we thought was going to be the final season was released in two parts: the first on February 9, 2023 and the second part on March 9, 2023. The season picked up from Joe (Penn Badgley) searching for Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) in London, but turns into Joe trying to turn a new leaf and stop killing -- that is, until the "Eat-the-rich" killer strikes. The fourth season was watched 440,600,000 hours.

This prequel series from the pandemic-popular Bridgerton was released on May 4, 2023. The story is loosely based on the rise of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to prominence and power in the late 18th century. The six-episode series was watched 503,000,000 hours.

Jenna Ortega cemented her role as the titular character Wednesday in this comedy/horror series. Wednesday was released on November 23,2022. Fans watched 507,700,000 hours of the first season.

This Korean psychological revenge series was released on December 30, 2022. The story follows a young woman, bullied to the point of deciding to drop out of school, who plans the best way to get revenge. She becomes a primary school teacher, taking in the son of the man who tormented her the most. The first season was watched 622,800,000 hours.

Our favorite dysfunctional family returned on January 5, 2023. The second season had that pesky private investigator connect more dots, but the mother-daughter duo had each other's backs, even if the other didn't know it. Season two was watched 665,100,000 hours.

Taking the top spot is the series based on the book of the same name by Matthew Quirk. While monitoring an emergency line, an FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House. The first season was released on March 23, 2023, and fans watched an astounding 812,100,000 hours!