Alan Ritchson tells the amusing story of how he scored a role onNew Girlas a man with a micro-penis. TheReacherstaris as huge as can be right now, both in terms of physical bulk, and when it comes to his acting career. But there was a time before Ritchson was quite so big, when he was willing to take on just about any job, including a small part in a sitcom playing a man with an unfortunate condition.
Ritchson’sNew Girlseason 4 guest spot as Jess’s poorly-endowed paramour gave the future action hero a memorable early-ish role, and as it happens,the story behind how he got the role is itself memorable, as he recalled during a recent appearance. Ritchson begins his story by recounting the time he was trying his hand as a screenwriter and needed a nocturnal pick-me-up (viaWired):
Oh my god, I got such a good story about this. The episode is called “Micro Penis.” No acting involved, b—–es. Okay, so I was writing a movie at the time. I ended up making that movie, by the way. Thank you very much. It was midnight and I was falling asleep and I really wanted to like reach a certain point in my outline where I had like, you know, scripted this.
I went to this diner that was open 24/7. I park in the parking lot and I’m walking through the diner at midnight, so there’s nobody there. And I was just gonna go eat and write around people so I wouldn’t fall asleep. And a blacked out Audi pulls up in front of me and I was like, “Oh God, oh I’m gonna get mugged,” but I can fight. So I wasn’t worried.
The window goes down and it’s Jay Chandrasekhar from “Super Troopers” in the car, right? Who I’ve worked with on “Blue Mountain State.” “Hey, buddy.” And I was like, “What are you doing? I was like, “Dude, you can’t just roll up on somebody in the parking lot at midnight like that. What are you doing?” He’s like, “I was talking about you down at Fox today. Had a little conversation about you. I’m directing an episode of ‘New Girl,’ and I thought of you.”
I was like, “Cool. Cool, what’s the episode?” He’s like, “Well, you’re a really cool dude. Everybody likes you and you know, you’ve got a micro-penis.” I was like, “What, I’m sorry? So you have this episode called ‘Micro Penis’ and you think of me? I’m the guy that you think of, Jay?” And he’s like, “I thought you’d be great for it. Do you want to do it? And I was like, “Yeah, I want to do it, Jay. Yeah, I’ll do the episode,” and that was it. My audition was in a Trader Joe’s parking lot at midnight.
What Ritchson’s Story Means For His Career Arc
It’s A Classic Tale Of Right Place, Right Time
Ritchson’sNew Girlseason 4 episode, simply entitled “Micro,” sees Zooey Deschanel’s Jess entering the dating scene with a vengeance. Afraid she’s perceived as shallow, Jess hooks up with Ritchson’s Matt, who has publicly disclosed his micro-penis, making him an object of sympathy. That sympathy may be unearned, however, as Jess finds out he’s cheating on his girlfriend.
Before landing the role of handsome-but-unfortunate Matt,Ritchson had established himself as a cable sitcom star with his role on the cult Spike TV showBlue Mountain State. But the relationship Ritchson built with that series' episode director Chandrasekhar proved as valuable as the role itself, as it led to his being cast on a network sitcom, albeit for only one episode.
Ritchson played college football star Kevin “Thad” Devlin Castle onBlue Mountain State, which ran for 3 seasons and 39 episodes.
New Girlmay have only been a one-shot opportunity for Ritchson,but it added a network role to his resume, a solid career building-block.Reacherhas now catapulted Ritchson into a different realm, opening up loads of opportunities, including the chance to bring back his pre-New GirlshowBlue Mountain Stateon Prime Video.
Our Take On Ritchson’s New Girl Casting Story
Ritchson’s Charisma Showed Itself Early On
New Girl’s Matt is ultimately a one-joke character, and perhaps not a very funny one,but Ritchson’s charisma is nevertheless on display in the role. That gruff charm would later help him win the role of Jack Reacher, a difficult character to capture on-screen, due to his huge physical bulk. Pretending to be physically unfortunate onNew Girlwas not hard for Ritchson, who seems a good sport, and onReacherhe no longer has to pretend to have any physical shortcomings, unless he’s fighting someone way larger than him, like season 3’s massive Paulie.
New Girl Cast & Character Guide
The lovable characters in the New Girl cast are brought to life by versatile actors who each have an impressive body of work and recognizable roles.
Now that he’s become famous in part for his impressive size, theReacherstar’s oldNew Girlspot becomes a slightly amusing meta-joke. But the backstory behind that guest spot is, in fact, more amusing than the episode in which it appears.
New Girl
Cast
New Girl is a television series that debuted in 2011, centering on Jessica Day, an eccentric young woman. Following a breakup, she moves in with three single men, navigating her quirky personality and forming unexpected friendships in her new living situation.
