'Reacher' star Alan Ritchson revealed he attempted suicide in 2019, but stopped himself when he visualized his three children as adults begging him to live.
The 41-year-old star – who plays Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime Video action series Reacher, now in its second season – spoke extensively about his Catholic upbringing, his love of Jim Carrey, and his career. The Hollywood Reporter report was published on Wednesday.
Ritchson was candid in describing his 2019 suicide attempt at his home in California. The actor revealed that he fell into a dark place and one day went to the attic of his house.
“I hung myself,” Ritchson told The Hollywood Reporter. “It all happened so fast, I was just hanging out there.”
But then he experienced what he likened to divine intervention: He experienced a vision of his then-young sons in their mid-30s.
“They quietly asked me not to do it, telling me they wanted me to be here alive and part of their lives,” he recalls.
Ritchson then pulled himself up — attributing his strength to doing “a million pull-ups” in his life — and then passed out.
He immediately called his doctor after that and was soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 36.
Ritchson also talked about his modeling career — which he pursued at the suggestion of a customer at a Florida gas station where he worked making sandwiches after leaving college.
He moved to Miami and signed with a modeling agency. But modeling has not been a positive journey, Ritchson said, adding: “There are very few qualities that are beneficial to working in this industry.”
“Let's be honest, it's like legal sex trafficking. The industry is not regulated, and it is a widely known secret that if you are hired for a job, you will be taken to a photographer to be trafficked,” he said.
“The number of times and situations where I was placed in horrific environments where sexual assault was the goal and the paycheck I desperately needed to survive was the carrot, I can't count on two hands. It was too many times,” he added. .
He described “dancing around this absolutely terrible line” between keeping jobs, not offending photographers and protecting oneself.
Richeson recalls a terrifying encounter when he was working with a very famous, unnamed photographer.
“I was sent to a hotel room to do a striptease with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this man.
He left the shoot and went straight to his agency in Los Angeles and got angry at his agent.
“I stormed in and said, ‘Fuck you for sending me there. You knew what would happen, and you did it anyway. There was a shy smile [on this agent’s face]Knowing that he was arrested. He said: “It's okay.” 'No big deal, calm down. I won't take you back there. “I know he's a little aggressive,” Ritchson recalls.
Richeson told the agent not to contact him again and to leave the industry. That was his last photo shoot as a model, and those photos have never been seen or published.
Ritchson turned to Hollywood via “American Idol” — his Season 3 audition brought him to Los Angeles for the Hollywood rounds that aired in 2004. He was eventually cut during the 32nd round, but decided to stay in Tinseltown to pursue acting.
Over the years, he appeared in the TV series “Smallville” as Arthur Curry, also known as Aquaman, as well as in the comedy series “Blue Mountain State,” the movie “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” and episodes of “Black Mirror.” “And Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Ritchson's huge break came when he was cast in the role of Jack Reacher – a former major in the US Army Military Police Corps who solves mysteries with some action-packed street justice.
Ritchson was remarkably open in expressing the ups and downs in his career and the betrayals along the way that left him feeling broken and depressed.
He is now one of Hollywood's leading men, with a busy filming schedule. He starred alongside Oscar winner Hilary Swank in “Ordinary Angels,” which was released in February, and will star in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming film “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” with Henry Cavill and Henry Golding, and in Luke Greenfield’s “Playdate.” Along with Kevin. Mosques.
“But I've learned that's not what's most important,” Ritchson said of his tremendous success. “I try to keep my eyes fixed on opportunities to serve others. It's faith, family, mental health, business practices, all prioritized in the right way that can work well together in harmony.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to access the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255text HOME to 741741 or visit TalkingOfSuicide.com/resources For additional resources.
