Alan Ritchson – The Turkey Bowl

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What can you tease is the premise for the movie The Turkey Bowl?

A) The Turkey Bowl is about a couple of friends who want to go back and redo an unfinished Thanksgiving football game with their town rivals. It’s a bit of a coming of age story for some guys who are a little past their college prime. It’s also a heartfelt comedy so it’s the best of both worlds – comedy with heart.

Q) How was your character Ronnie Best originally described to you?

A) I remember Kirk Ward, one of the writers, called and pitched me the character. I can hear his voice in my head saying, “You’re going to love this character! [laughs] He says this and this. You’re gunna love it!” He was telling me how much I’m going to love and it he was right! It was exactly the kind of comedy I like. Ronnie is in your face and kind of lacks a bit of self-awareness. He’s the town villain. He’s the town bully. It’s all the elements I like in comedy.

Q) Did you have to change up your physical routine or diet to get in football shape?

A) No, I was kind of lucky with the timing of this. I had already started my role as Hawk on “Titans,” so we had already shot for a couple of weeks. Then, I had a little hiatus. I got a call about The Turkey Bowl just beginning on the hiatus so I was like, “Alright, sure.” So, I was already sort of in superhero mode and was like, “Alright, I have to go play a football player now.” [laughs] But I just kind of slipped right into it.

Q) Talk about working with Matt Jones and Ryan Hansen.

A) Oh man! Those guys were so good. It was good working with them. I think we fell into having a nice chemistry both on and off screen pretty quickly. They both have pretty different styles and I think both lent themselves to us all helping each other be our best. They are really great guys. No one plays that sort of awkward, grounded like, “I really have to deal with this,” as Ryan does. And Matt played his amazingly likable best friend. They are so good! They are both so good. I feel lucky to have worked with them.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) I think one of my favorite scenes was the bedroom stalker scene. It was just so fun and tough to get through because it was just a lot of fun to make. It was very uncomfortable for everybody in a good way. It was a lot of fun!

Q) What advice did director Greg Coolidge offer while you were filming?

A) He was just really good at sort of getting the best out of it when bringing the scenes to life. Sometimes I would take it a different direction or maybe be a little bigger or more physical, whatever it might be in that moment, but he always knew what he needed. So, he would say “more here” and “less there” and knew exactly how to dial in that comedy. I think the finished product shows just how good he was at being the keeper of that story and making sure that everybody in every scene was aiming close to the same north star. He did a great job. I’d work with him in a second.

Q) You seem to have the seamless ability of slipping back and forth between comedies and dramas. Have you had to work much at comedic timing or is it something that has always come naturally to you?

A) Yeah, thank you – first of all. I think that comedy was always kind of easy to me. I think it comes from my musical background, to be completely honest with you, because there is a musicality to comedy in my opinion. You hear it the way you hear music, at least I do in my head. There is a rhythm to everything. So, when things are off rhythm to me it’s not funny. If I’m working with someone and they are not on the same musical page it’s really hard for me to feel like we’re getting it. So, it’s very musical. I think that’s why it comes natural to me, just the timing of it and the melody. But, yeah, more on the dramatic side I actually had to do some work on myself because I slipped in to The CW thing with Aquaman early on. I just thought to myself, “Well, I guess it’s always going to be this easy and I don’t really need any help.” I remember there was an audition for a big film and I’d just come off a show and I was feeling like, “Why don’t they just offer it to me? Why do I even have to?” I was jaded about some other losses and I was like, “If a guy looks the part, he’s going to get it. It doesn’t matter how good they are. There are so many crappy actors out there working.” [laughs] So, I was in a very bad place mentally. I go into this audition with a lot of that and I knew the lines, but I wasn’t really that prepared and just sort of phoned it in. I actually got a call from the casting director and it changed my career. They’ll never know that, but they were like, “You walked in and we’d seen like two thousand guys. So, we were like, ‘Please, if this guy can just nail this he’s got it and we can end this process.’ You clearly hadn’t done the work and you clearly didn’t have a craft behind you.” I was like, “Whoa! Well, I’m never going to let that happen again.” So, I found a friend of mine Deborah Aquila. She’s a phenomenal friend of mine. She’s everywhere. She takes a handful of students under her wing every now and then and helps them learn the craft from the inside out. And that’s what we did together. In coming out of that process, I think things were very different for me. So, it wasn’t so effortless slipping back into the drama and figuring that out. It’s been a lot of fun marrying those two later in life.

Q) What do you think it is about The Turkey Bowl that will make it a fast holiday favorite film to watch?

A) Oh! Well, I think it’s an easy comedy to watch. It’s relatable. We all have these Thanksgiving stories and those backyard football games. I think we all want to laugh at these rivalries, these experiences we can all share in. The relationship story is really touching. There is enough sort of meaningful material there to satisfy everybody. And there aren’t a lot of Thanksgiving themed films. So, it’s filling a bit of a void. I think it will be a fun Thanksgiving tradition to revisit.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the fan feedback you’ll be receiving to the movie?

A) I don’t want the feedback. [laughs] I’m scared of the feedback. People are either too nice or too mean. There is like, “I hate it!” I try not to go online and look what people had to say – good or bad. I think it makes you crazy. I do really want people to check it out. I think it’s one of my favorite performances, as far as doing a comedy. It was really just a lot of fun for me. I enjoyed the film. I enjoyed the scenes. I think people will enjoy it, too.

Q) You’ve had quite an incredible career! What have been some of your favorite projects to work on?

A) That’s a great question. I’ve got a few favorites. Id’ say at the top of my list has to be “Blue Mountain State.” It was my first series as a regular from the get-go. It was almost like having a college experience, which I never really had. I sort of skipped that so, for me, it was a lot of fun. I think back fondly on that chapter – those three seasons.

Q) Is there a dream role you still want to play?

A) So many! How much time do we have? [laughs] I think there are a lot. I have gotten to touch on the military thing. I shot a movie called Ghosts of War. It’s kind of a period piece where I play a soldier. My dad was in the military and I always had a lot of respect for what they do and the sacrifices they make. So, I want to play a soldier in like a Black Hawk Down type of thing – something like that. I would love to play a Grinch – a Jim Carrey style Grinch, some character that is completely foreign to us human beings and really just bring it to life with some major physical comedy. That’s something that I want to do.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

A) Thank you! I just share my gratitude. I get to do what I love for a living because people enjoy it. So, I’m grateful.