Alan Ritchson Breaks Down His Real-Life Character in Ordinary Angels

Ritchson plays the real-life Ed Schmitt in the new biopic.

By Jenna Anderson

After standout roles in everything from Reacher to Fast X to Titans, Alan Ritchson has become a pretty memorable face in movies and television. Later this month, audiences can see Ritchson in Ordinary Angels, a new biopic based on the true story of a community's fight through the 1994 snowstorm. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Ritchson spoke about the unique — and specific — challenges of embodying a real-life person, a widowed father named Ed Schmitt.

"Part of my job, when I'm preparing for a role, is to absorb as much information that currently exists as possible," Ritchson explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I mean, the hope would be that there's so much that I wouldn't really need to imagine or fill in the cracks with my own ideas. [When] I've played, you know, Ninja Turtles or Hawk on Titans, there's a lot of source material to absorb, so it's like a lot of the heavy lifting is done for me. Same thing is true for playing somebody like Ed Schmidt. The story is out there. I mean, my job was to absorb as much of the truth and the heartache of that, and the hope that came along from what transpired. But he also is a real dude, so there's aspects to who he is that I needed to embody. One of [those] is a Kentucky accent, so I had a dialect coach help me dive in. And it was funny, because there was a question: 'This is the region that he's from, and there are seven distinct accents from this area alone in Kentucky.' So we have to pick one and we're like, 'Ok, I guess. I think this sounds the most like him. Let's go this direction.' So doing that kind of work, it's what my job is and it's what I kind of enjoy the most about this. But that is really where it began was lwith absorbing the story and his history and the accent."

What Is Ordinary Angels About?

Based on a true story, Ordinary Angels follows Sharon (Hilary Swank), a fierce but struggling hairdresser in small-town Kentucky who discovers a renewed sense of purpose when she meets Ed (Alan Ritchson), a widower working hard to make ends meet for his two daughters. With his youngest daughter waiting for a liver transplant, Sharon sets her mind to helping the family and will move mountains to do it. What unfolds is the inspiring tale of faith, everyday miracles, and ordinary angels.

Ordinary Angels is directed by Jon Gunn and written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig.

Will Alan Ritchson Play Batman?

Over the years, Ritchson's filmography has encompassed quite a few roles within the superhero space, including Arthur "A.C." Curry / Aquaman in Smallville and Hank Hall / Hawk in Titans. Recently, Ritchson has also been cited as a fancast to portray Bruce Wayne / Batman in James Gunn's DC Universe — and while speaking to ComicBook.com, the actor revealed that he's more than willing to take on the challenge.

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"As huge as this rumor mill is, I feel like this part should be offered on a silver platter at this point," Ritchson joked. "I would love to play Batman. But, I'm not yet Batman. I don't know what, I don't know what Gunn's approach is gonna be. But, yeah, that'd be great. What? He's one of the most iconic characters of all the."

Ordinary Angels will be released exclusively in theaters on February 23rd.

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