Why Jack Fletcher From Accused Looks So Familiar
Ahead of its January premiere, "Accused" looked to be among a number of network shows that would blow everyone away in 2023. Now, Season 1 is out in its entirety. Each episode of "Accused" stands on its own but follows the same basic formula, opening in a courtroom in media res before gradually acquainting viewers with what led to its defendant ending up on trial. This format is reflected by a convention through which Episode 1 is titled "Scott's Story," and every subsequent episode replaces "Scott" with a new defendant's name.
In practice, this means that every episode of "Accused" revolves around a unique cast. For example, Michael Chiklis plays Scott in Episode 1. Later episodes feature actors like Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Rhea Perlman, Abigail Breslin, and Keith Carradine, among others.
Episode 9, titled "Jack's Story," explores whether a high school teacher named Jack Fletcher — who sometimes treats his students more like friends — is a healthy authority figure or overreaching and abusing his power. Jason Ritter is the actor who plays Jack. He may look familiar from a lengthy acting career that kicked off in the '90s and spans frequent appearances both on TV and in feature films.
Jason Ritter is Joan's brother Kevin in Joan of Arcadia
While "Joan of Arcadia" may have been canceled before viewers got to see its ending, its two seasons are comprised of 45 episodes in total, airing on CBS during a time when seasons of serial TV frequently surpassed 20 episodes in length. The series revolves around a girl named Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) who develops the unique ability to speak with a God. Rather than appear as, say, an old man with a long white beard, God visits Joan in the guise of a different human each time he speaks to her.
Jason Ritter — who was still in his 20s during the time "Joan of Arcadia" was on the air in the early 2000s — plays Joan's older brother Kevin. Prior to the series' opening, Kevin survives a car crash but loses the use of his legs. Joan's servitude to the show's God, in fact, emerges from her praying that Kevin will live through his accident. Moving forward, Kevin's story arc primarily revolves around a growing interest in journalism as he transitions away from his past life as an athlete.
Ritter is a part of the teen cast of Freddy vs. Jason
In 2003 — the same year Jason Ritter first appeared in "Joan of Arcadia" — slasher crossover film "Freddy vs. Jason" premiered in theaters, likewise featuring Ritter in its core cast of teens.
The series of murders that provides "Freddy vs. Jason" with its backbone kicks off at a sleepover a teenager named Lori Campbell (Monica Keena) hosts for a few of her friends. Meanwhile, Ritter is Will Rollins, Lori's ex-boyfriend. He and a friend, Mark Davis (Brendan Fletcher), end up at a psychiatric institute due to their connections to Lori and presumed proximity to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). There, the staff uses medication to prevent them from falling asleep and manifesting Freddy in their dreams. Will soon escapes from the institute and joins up with Lori, serving as one of her close companions throughout the ensuing conflict with Freddy and Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger), teaming up for the first time.
He earned an Emmy nomination for his Parenthood role
Jason Ritter first appeared on "Parenthood" in 2010, during the rebooted series' first season. No longer a teen actor by that point, he plays a high school English teacher named Mark Cyr, whose class lead character Sarah Braverman-Holt (Lauren Graham)'s daughter Amber (Mae Whitman) is in. Through her daughter, Sarah gets to know Mark and the two of them start dating, but mutually decide to break their relationship off due to the negative effect it seems to have on Amber.
In subsequent seasons, however, once Amber is no longer actively Mark's student, they rekindle their relationship, only to continue to run into issues that complicate their dynamic. By 2012 — at which point he had appeared as a main character in Season 3 and remained a major part of Season 4 — Ritter earned himself an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nomination for his work as Mark on "Parenthood."
He's in Jennifer Fox's autobiographical HBO film The Tale
Like in "Parenthood" before it and eventually "Accused" as well, Jason Ritter plays a teacher and authority figure in the 2018 original HBO film "The Tale." However, whereas Mark on "Parenthood" is a force for good and his "Accused" character seemingly well-intentioned, in "The Tale" he plays a fictionalization of director Jennifer Fox's childhood abuser.
The film opens with its protagonist, also named Jennifer Fox (Laura Dern), in her 40s. Over the course of the film, she reflects on what she previously considered a teenage relationship with an adult horse riding coach named Bill Allens, played by Ritter. The longer she spends thinking over her time with Bill, the more she realizes that their relationship was non-consensual and abusive. Furthermore, Jennifer comes to the epiphany that she was most likely not Bill's only victim.
Especially with his start as a teen actor in lighter network TV fare like "Joan of Arcadia" in mind, his altogether heavy work on "The Tale" is dramatic territory unprecedented in his career previously. That said, critics widely praised "The Tale," affirming that, alongside Dern and the rest of the film's cast and crew, Ritter was well capable of telling Fox's sensitive story.