Who Did Reacher's Alan Ritchson Play In Hunger Games?

Despite boasting titles like "The Rings of Power" and "The Boys" on Amazon Prime, the streaming service has scored a hit with a one-man show. Well, less of a man and more of a mountain with legs. Alan Ritchson plays the titular character in "Reacher," proving why he was the right person to play Jack Reacher (and why Tom Cruise may have been the worst). However, before he shot to fame as the henchman-pummeling hero, he appeared in a few other franchises, one of which was the dystopian-set film series full of annoyingly attractive people — "The Hunger Games."

While he might have grown a bit since he went to battle opposing districts in 2013, Ritchson appeared as District 1 tribute Gloss in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." A tough competitor in the Quarter Quell, Ritchson's Gloss was one of the Careers, or tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4 who train until they turn 18, at which point they volunteer for the games to come out on top. Unfortunately for Gloss, a team effort wasn't enough when he was shot with one of Katniss' (Jennifer Lawrence) signature arrows. Interestingly, had the games gone a different way, Ritchson might not have met such a grisly end, given that he initially went for a completely different role that would've seen him live a little longer in the "The Hunger Games" timeline.

Before he took a stab at playing Gloss in "Catching Fire," Alan Ritchson actually auditioned for Finnick Odair, District 4's champion ally to Katniss in "Catching Fire" and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1" and "Part 2." Unfortunately, as Ritchson revealed to Men's Health, he was told he was simply too old for the role and doubtful to emerge as a star if he got the gig that eventually went to Sam Claflin. Now while the franchise thankfully found him an alternative spot in the games as Gloss, a variety of other roles came his way before he made it big as Jack Reacher and stole the show in movies like "Fast X" and Guy Ritchie's "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." By the sounds of things, though, Claflin's turn as Finnick came with extra injuries Ritchson thankfully missed out on.

In a 2013 interview at the MTV Movie Awards, Ritchson recalled to E! News that Claflin took some hits for the role that he didn't end up with. "Sam got hurt the worst. He broke his hand doing a stunt," he said. Unfortunately, the battle scar didn't make its way into the movie given that his co-star got the injury prior to filming, as further revealed by Ritchson. "It was in rehearsal, so we weren't even shooting. He broke it on the stunt guy, warming up," he revealed. "I was standing right next to him. It was tough to watch." Maybe, but we bet Jack Reacher could take it.