If you watch Prime Video, you probably know Alan Ritchson. He’s the huge, quiet guy who plays Jack Reacher, the ex-military drifter who solves problems with his fists on the hit show “Reacher.” On screen he barely talks. He stares people down, breaks a few bones, and moves on.
So nobody was ready for what he did one night in a hotel room.
Ritchson was away filming Season 5 of the show. Alone after a long day, he set up a microphone, hit record on his phone, and started to sing. Then he posted the whole thing online for the world to see.
He kept it humble. In the caption he called it “a weak hotel room attempt… for your viewing pleasure or scorn!” He had on a plain black T-shirt and a cap, no fancy setup, no band. Just a tired actor and a song he clearly loves.
And the song was Michael Jackson.
Here’s the thing. The man built like a tank didn’t reach for one of Michael’s big stomping hits. He went soft. He picked one of the gentlest, prettiest ballads Michael ever recorded.
The fans lost it. The comments filled up fast, people stunned that this voice was coming out of Reacher. One fan wrote, “Aiight Reacher Jackson! I see you!!” A lot of them said the same basic thing in different words. They had no idea he could sing like that.
So which song did he choose? It was “Human Nature.”
If the title doesn’t ring a bell right away, the melody will. “Human Nature” was the fifth single off Michael’s “Thriller,” the best-selling album in history. It came out in 1983 and went Top 10. It’s the dreamy, late-night one about the pull of the city and wanting to reach out and touch somebody. Soft, floating, almost whispered in places. Not an easy song to sing well, which is part of why fans were so surprised Ritchson pulled it off.
Before you hear his version, it helps to know the real thing. This is Michael’s own “Human Nature,” the 1983 recording that Ritchson was singing along to in that hotel room.
Michael Jackson’s original 1983 recording of “Human Nature”
Hear how light and breathy Michael keeps it, how he never pushes? That’s the hard part. It’s a song you can’t muscle through. You have to ease off and let it drift, which is the last thing you’d expect from a guy famous for throwing bad guys through walls.
That’s what makes Ritchson’s clip worth finding. A giant action star, alone, singing one of the softest songs in the catalog, and actually doing it justice.
Michael would’ve liked that, probably. “Human Nature” was always one of the quiet corners of his catalog, a little overshadowed by the dance hits. Nice to see a new crowd rediscover it because a TV tough guy couldn’t resist singing it to himself at night.