Thanks to the pitch-perfect casting decision that made the star of , the
Amazon series based on the best-selling novels by Lee Child, the
Actor has seen his star considerably rise on the heels of the show’s second season. When he’s not making , he’s starring in movies and lining up projects with the biggest action star on the planet: . However, Ritchson isn’t shy about his humble and sometimes dorky beginnings. In a new interview with , the towering actor that he was once wildly obsessed with one of Jim Carrey’s most famous characters: . “He was my hero,” says Ritchson. “When came out [in 1994], I was in sixth grade, and I was enamored. He was so physical, goofy and unafraid. I’d never seen anything like it. I dressed up as Ace Ventura for three Halloweens in a row. I showed up to school and wouldn’t break character the entire time. I had the hair, the business card and I would walk up to people at their lunch tables and say, ‘Excuse me, I’d like to ass you a few questions,’” he says. “People hated it, but I love that it made most people laugh. Jim Carrey knew how to do that and it’s a gift.” Before making it big in
Hollywood, Ritchson actually had a brief encounter with his hero. Carrey was in Seaside,
Florida filming , which was close to where Ritchson was living at the time. Along with his mom and brother, a young Ritchson posted up near the town square where he almost scored an autograph of the beloved actor. “We waited for him to come out of his
trailer,” Ritchson told . “My mom spotted him and went, ‘There he is!’ I unveiled my poster and said, ‘Hey, Jim!’ He looked over and did this big belly laugh by arching his spine backwards. My brother and I ran over to him, but a security guard was there.” According to Ritchson, that’s the closest he’s been to Carrey since, but maybe his luck will change. He’s Reacher now. Who doesn’t want to meet Reacher? (Via )