Hollywood stopped making action heroes like Alan Ritchson

Alan Ritchson feels like he wandered in from another era. Whether he’s playing Jack Reacher in Reacher, Anders Lassen in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, U.S. Army Ranger 81 battling an alien invasion in Netflix’s War Machine, or the rough-and-tumble hero of the upcoming Motor City, Ritchson keeps gravitating toward the same type of role: an unstoppable physical force whose greatest weapon is simply walking into a room. 35 years ago, he would’ve fit comfortably alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Today, he feels almost like the last of a dying breed. That’s precisely why he’s become such an unlikely star.