“I let him know”: Alan Ritchson Disrespected Vin Diesel With His Brutal Honesty That Might Have Cost His Fast X Role That Was Offered to Keanu Reeves

Fast X star and franchise newcomer Alan Ritchson recalls making a significant blunder in front of Vin Diesel. The actor shared certain details with franchise star Vin Diesel as he recounted an uncomfortable incident that he believed would have jeopardized his career in the franchise.

Alan Ritchson

Despite admitting he feels bad about what he said to the seasoned actor, Ritchson claims Diesel was polite during their encounter. Ritchson joined Fast X as Aimes, a new member of Mr. Nobody’s agency who has assumed leadership duties. The Reacher series on Prime Video, starring the Fast X actor as Jack Reacher, is one of his most well-known roles.

Alan Ritchson Admits He’s Never Seen Any Fast & Furious Movies

Alan Ritchson reminisced about telling Vin Diesel that he had never seen a Fast & Furious movie before joining the Fast X cast during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.

Alan Ritchson

“I didn’t watch any other ones, and I let Vin know,” Ritchson said. “I go ‘Hey man, I hadn’t really watched any of ’em. I watched the first one in high school, and now that I got the part I’ve seen them all, and I just love what you’ve been doing with the last two decades.’ And he was like ‘I…thank you. I appreciate that.’“

When being asked how Vin Diesel really reacted to the news, Ritchson suggested that the Fast Saga star was “very polite,” but could only imagine what was really going on in his head.

“He’s spent 20-plus years of his life, this is his baby,” Ritchson said. “I’ve spent a couple of years working on Reacher. It’s such a fixture in my life, if somebody was like ‘Thanks for having me on Reacher, man, I haven’t watched any of ’em,’ I’d be like ‘You’re the stupidest…why would you say that?!’ And this dude is decades in. I’m an idiot.“

Ritchson may not have watched any Fast & Furious movies before joining Fast X, but it’s obvious he loves the series

Keanu Reeves Almost Played a Role in Fast X, Said Alan Ritchson

From a much-grounded street racing tale to a string of obscene, extravagant action adventures, the Fast franchise has grown and evolved. While acknowledging that the threshold was high, Alan Ritchson expressed gratitude for entering the story at the appropriate time.

In an interview with EW, Alan Ritchson revealed that the studio first wanted Keanu Reeves to take the character of Aimes before calling him to play the role.

“It was just a little stroke of luck and good timing,” Ritchson explained. “I was working on a movie with Hilary Swank up in Winnipeg in the freezing cold, and I got a call that things had shifted in the plans with Keanu Reeves, which is I think who was originally intended to play my part. Tough act to follow.”

Keanu Reeves

Once Reeves was no longer a part of the movie, plans shifted to Ritchson. Even then, “timing issues” nearly cost Ritchson the part, but in the end, the Reacher actor got the part.

Although Alan Ritchson has been around Hollywood for a while, the box office successes of Reacher and Fast X have now given him the opportunity to shine.