During a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Ritchson revealed that his childhood idol was none other than the iconic comedian Jim Carrey. Enthralled by Carrey’s role in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” a film where Carrey’s character solves animal-related mysteries with humor, Ritchson reminisced, “I was in sixth grade and completely mesmerized. His physicality, goofiness, and fearlessness were unlike anything I’d seen before.” Emulating Carrey became a pastime for Ritchson, who even dressed as Ace Ventura for three consecutive Halloweens. “I’d show up at school in character, complete with the hair and business card, approaching classmates with, ‘Excuse me, I’d like to ass you a few questions,’” he shared.

Before the internet gave rise to memes, boys in middle school like Ritchson kept comedy alive by quoting iconic film lines. Reflecting on those times, Ritchson admitted, “People hated it, but I loved making others laugh. Jim Carrey had a special knack for that, and it’s truly a gift.”

A few years into his Carrey admiration, Ritchson got an opportunity to meet his comedic hero. Growing up in Florida near the filming location of Carrey’s 1998 movie “The Truman Show,” Ritchson persuaded his mom to take him to the set. He and his brother stood by, hopeful for an autograph.

A couple of years into Alan Ritchson’s intense fandom of Jim Carrey, he got a chance to meet his hero. Ritchson grew up in Florida, not far from where Carrey filmed the 1998 film “The Truman Show.” Ritchson convinced his mother to drive him to the set, and he and his brother waited for Carrey to walk by, hoping to get him to autograph their poster.

“My mom spotted him and went, ‘There he is!’” Ritchson told The Hollywood Reporter decades later. “I unveiled my poster and said, ‘Hey, Jim!’ He looked over and did this big belly laugh by arching his spine backwards.” Unfortunately for the young Ritchson, he didn’t get the signature he was hoping for. “My brother and I ran over to him, but a security guard was there,” Ritchson continued. “He put his hand on a gun and said, ‘Don’t go any closer.’ Jim was caught in this place where he wanted to sign it but had to go to work, so he just wandered off.”

Ritchson never forgot the moment. In the decades that followed, he would try to find his own place in the entertainment industry, and it would take a while before he landed on the action-star persona that has endeared him to millions of “Reacher” fans. Ritchson’s “American Idol” audition is a must-watch, for example, but soon after, he’d have a chance to prove that he deserved to follow in Carrey’s footsteps.

Alan Ritchson would probably like you to forget about his first movie, a horror film from 2006 called “The Butcher.” In 2010, however, he landed a starring role on “Blue Mountain State.” The raunchy sitcom, which aired on the now-defunct Spike TV, centered on a college football team. Ritchson played Thad Castle, the star linebacker; though he starts the series as a villain of sorts, Ritchson’s gonzo performance quickly softened Thad into one of the most lovably stupid characters on television. Though he was a hard-partying, fiercely-misogynistic, gym-rat frat-bro idiot, Ritchson played Thad as a guy who just fundamentally wanted to be liked. And we did.

His particular comedic sensibility owed a lot to his favorite comedian, including and especially the way Ritchson is able to contort his face to look utterly ridiculous in the best way. Fans noticed, too. Praising his performance on “Blue Mountain State,” one fan wrote on Reddit, “I would go as far as describing him as the muscular version of Jim Carrey in a sense, when it comes to his comedic range!” 

Though the football sitcom only lasted three seasons, Ritchson himself secured permission to crowdfund a 2016 movie called “The Rise of Thadland.” In 2025, Ritchson confirmed that Thad would be coming out of retirement once more by showing off those Carrey-esque chops in a reboot of “Blue Mountain State.”