‘Reacher’ has been one of the great recent successes of Prime Video. A series based on Lee Child’s espionage novels, the action show stars Alan Ritchson, an actor who, despite having a magnificent physique even before production, had to gain up to 13 kilos of pure muscle to resemble his literary counterpart even more.

So it is no wonder that Ritchson knows a thing or two about weightlifting. But do you know, between Dwayne Johnson and John Cena, who he would pick to face in a weightlifting contest? Let’s find out!

Ritchson opts for the nicest human being over the monster

In an interview with the Hollywood reporter, Ritchson talked about several fun topics. And one of those was a question that left him confused over which option to pick.

The reporter asked him who he would choose to have a weightlifting competition with: John Cena or Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson. Without a doubt, the Reacher actor picked Cena, but the reason has nothing to do with strength. As he said, “John Cena is the nicest human being I’ve ever met. I would never want to go against him. So I’d have to take Dwayne Johnson. And I’d also get beat because he’s a monster.”


Ritchson has previously demonstrated his excellent physical prowess in TV series such as ‘Smallville’ and ‘Titans’. Although to be Jack Reacher on the small screen, he had to be even more imposing.

And of course, he has succeeded, giving the viewer a version of the original novels. All this through really hard training and the intake of up to 6,000 calories per day. However. this wasn’t the only hardship he faced for the show.

Jack Reacher pushed to the limit

In another interview, the Reacher actor revealed that “he almost died” because of the stress and the high demands that accompany his role as Jack Reacher. He said that he was choking because of all the painkillers, which he had to take to mitigate the pain. That’s how hard the filming of ‘Reacher’ was.

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Alan Ritchson has also defended the use of testosterone to endure the filming of ‘Reacher’. The actor has explained the toughest stages of filming the first season and what he suffered, both physically and mentally.

He said that he had to endure long, physically demanding sessions, lack of sleep, and mental stress. And this pushed Ritchson to the limit. The filming of season one lasted for 16 weeks, in which the actor was on the edge on more than a few occasions, and even tore his shoulder.

After finishing filming the first season and going under the knife to repair his shoulder, the actor spoke to the production company to achieve a more sustainable schedule for him. However, the actor intends to continue playing the iconic role as much as possible. What do you think of his character Jack Reacher? Let us know in the comments.