Alan Ritchson's American Idol Audition Is A Must-Watch For Reacher Fans

He might be known for playing the strong, rugged, and silent type, but it turns out that the massively framed Alan Ritchson has also been blessed with the voice of an angel. While it might be shocking for fans of Prime Video's stolid Jack Reacher to learn, he actually loves to sing; in fact, he made it to the second round of auditions on an early season of "American Idol" using just his charm and his dulcet tones. Then a working model, Ritchson's voice and charisma nearly melted judge Paula Abdul and managed to amuse Simon Cowell. Ultimately, however, he didn't get too far in the reality television world, failing to make it out of the first herd of Hollywood hopefuls.

In the end, everything turned out fine for Ritchson, who's now part of one of Amazon's biggest streaming successes ever. But what turned him away from his music-making dreams? What brought him back to Hollywood — this time, as an actor? Why didn't he re-enter the reality show in a later season? And how does he feel about singing for cash now? Here's the full skinny on Alan Ritchson's "American Idol" audition, his brief time on the show, and everything that followed his flirtation with musical success.

Alan Ritchson auditioned for "American Idol" during its third season. Singing Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," he got down on his knees before Paula Abdul and dedicated the song to her, dancing in a seductive manner and modifying the lyrics into a tribute. She giggled joyfully and Simon Cowell thanked Ritchson for making her smile for the first time that day. While Cowell and Randy Jackson doubted Ritchson's seriousness and commitment to the music industry, they were also impressed by his talent. That was enough to give him a pass to the second round in Hollywood.

Unfortunately, Ritchson did not manage to make it further than that, as the lack of commitment Cowell and Jackson detected was reflected in his awkward second performance. Singing "On Broadway" while rubbing his own chest in front of a live audience — with the three judges and Ryan Seacrest all watching — proved somewhat less charming than his initial audition. Before being given the official thumbs down, Ritchson gained further attention for his himbo-esque behavior, flirting with and pushing a fellow contestant into a pool.

With his reality show days firmly behind him, Alan Ritchson soon started landing Hollywood roles that had nothing to do with belting out melodies — which is interesting, because he'd rejected a musical career path back in college. He'd apparently received multiple scholarship offers to a variety of universities to polish his singing voice but found the process of musical higher education ludicrous.

Reflecting on those days during a Wired Autocomplete Interview – where he also admitted he almost didn't take on the role of Jack Reacher because he wasn't the producer's first choice – he recalled scoffing at the concept of being taught to sing. "You're going to teach somebody how to sing? If you sing, you sing," he said. "I'm not going to learn anything from you." He admitted that the limited salaries and constricted living situations of theatrical and Broadway actors were not inspiring to him. That led him to modeling, then acting. After scoring a gig as a mocap actor for "Beowulf," he began to realize that this type of performing might be more his speed — plus, the odds were that he'd make more money as an actor.

Soon after his failed "American Idol" audition, Ritchson landed his first major role playing Arthur Curry, the fish-loving Aquaman, on "Smallville." He then spent three seasons as the bullying Thad Castle in "Blue Mountain State" and later reprised the role in "Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland." Ritchson also played cold and calculating Gloss in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and voiced the fiery Raphael in Michael Bay's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" duology. Before landing the role of Jack Reacher, he played Hank Hall, aka Hawk, in "Titans," Aimes in "Fast X," Anders in "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," and Arthur in "Blood Drive." This variety of roles included a lot of action-driven parts, which would give him the chance to learn how to properly condition his body for other high-octane roles, preparing him to do things like gain weight to play "Reacher."

How does Alan Ritchson look back on his "American Idol" experience these days? With mixed feelings, apparently. He told iHollywood that if he had a chance to see Paula Abdul again, he would "thank [her] for the crack in the door. [...] She brought me to LA for the first time, and I realized, once out here, I had a really great energy." Despite his early elimination, the experience made him realize he wanted to be in Los Angeles.

But while he typically seems to embrace the experience with a sense of humor, he has also expressed a little frustration over how "American Idol's" editors manipulated reality. While appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Ritchson explained that the talent search's producers encouraged him to push the girl into a pool versus it being an organic choice of his. They also gave him a villain edit by portraying him as a lackadaisical party guy, cutting out the fact that he had actually written his own song for Episode 3 and helped others with theirs instead of blowing his preparation off to hang out by the pool. "That was my first love, was songwriting," he said, claiming that he wrote his own music with ease. Maybe now that he's a superstar, ABC will make things right and give the reality series a "Reacher" night.