Actor Alan Ritchson speaks with Dax Shepard about family life, mental health and the instability of early career breaks in television and film. Ritchson describes longstanding hypervigilance and rejection sensitivity, and says he has recently been diagnosed with complex PTSD; he outlines his understanding of the condition and discusses EMDR in therapy as a way of processing trauma.
He also gives a detailed account of working as a male model, alleging he was repeatedly sent to shoots where people attempted to sexually exploit him and that agents and clients enabled predatory dynamics. He says he confronted an agent over being booked into situations he characterises as dangerous.
On career turning points, Ritchson recalls being offered an Aquaman spin-off after Smallville before it was derailed by the Warner Bros–UPN merger into The CW. He says a poorly received Thor audition prompted a shift towards serious training after a casting office contacted his team to say he looked right for the role but lacked “craft”.
Ritchson addresses a widely circulated neighbourhood incident involving a motorcycle ride with his children, saying a man blocked him, shoved him off the bike and that police arrived intending to arrest him. He says footage from a chest-mounted phone/body camera helped corroborate his account, and that the episode has had lingering effects on his children’s willingness to ride with him.
The conversation also touches on the pressures of fame and Ritchson’s efforts to navigate public attention alongside family boundaries.
Ritchson says he was offered an Aquaman spin-off after his Smallville appearances but lost the project during the Warner Bros–UPN transition into The CW, which he describes as a change in leadership priorities. He presents it as an early-career lesson in how quickly studio decisions can shift regardless of performance or momentum.
Read this moment →Ritchson says a Marvel casting director took the unusual step of contacting his representatives after his Thor audition to say he looked right for the role but lacked the necessary acting skill. He says the feedback triggered a pivot into formal training and a more disciplined approach to auditions and performance.
Read this moment →Continuing his account of the neighbourhood confrontation, Ritchson says the aftermath has had a lasting effect on his family, particularly his children’s willingness to ride motorcycles with him. He frames that loss as the most significant personal consequence, beyond the immediate legal and reputational stress.
Read this moment →Ritchson recounts a neighbourhood dispute while he was riding a loud, custom-built motorcycle with his children nearby, saying a man repeatedly blocked him, shoved him off his bike, and that he struck the man to get his family away. He says police arrived intending to arrest him and that footage from a chest-mounted phone/body camera helped establish his account of events.
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