Jason Ritter is the image of his late father, John Ritter, but the resemblance is deeper than looks. There’s a kindness that emanated from the elder that is also apparent in the son.
He talks easily about his dad and how the name — his grandfather was singing cowboy star Tex Ritter — helped open doors.
Still, Jason had to deliver and now does so as Julian on CBS’ Matlock. After roles on Joan of Arcadia, The Class and Parenthood, among dozens of others, and starring in Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. Ritter’s part of an ensemble again, with Beau Bridges as his father and Kathy Bates in the title role of the Thursday CBS procedural.
He answered our “5 Questions” from the home he shares with wife Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) and their 6-year-old daughter.
1. How do you describe Julian and the position he’s in?
Julian is working at his father’s law firm, in which his father is a huge superstar. Everybody knows him. Everybody knows he’s a killer. People respect him and like his father, and Julian’s always had a bit of a tough relationship with him, and he’s in a complicated place where he wants someone’s approval that he doesn’t even particularly like. He respects his father’s work, and he sees that his father worked his way up from nothing, but they’ve had such a contentious relationship.
2. You’ve always been around celebrities. When were you starstruck?
I was in a restaurant as a 20-something-year-old, and I saw Donita Sparks, who’s the lead singer of the band L7, which was an all-girl grunge rock group in the ’90s, who I loved and was obsessed with. I’ve seen, over the years, people get interrupted at dinner, and I didn’t really want to do it, but I felt like I had to say something. I just quickly said my thing, and she was so nice and so cool, but I was stammering and tripping over my words.
3. Have you worked any other jobs?
I did some flipping of chicken and burgers at a Little League park, but it was just like for my friend’s mom, but she did give us money. I also learned that you can’t just cook chicken until it turns white. You have to cook it through; you can’t just sear chicken.
4. What’s your ideal day?
Something with Melanie and my daughter. Maybe we go on a little walk. We show her something new. That’s one of my favorite things in the world, watching her experience something for the first time. Just hanging out and being silly all day.
5. What advice did your dad give you about acting?
One of the things that was the most helpful was to read between the lines, essentially. You’ll get a script, and sometimes they’re very specific. And it’s kind of easy, especially when you’re starting out, to read what your lines are. But to tie it all together, to tie the thread of your character’s thought process through each scene, even if you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with the scene and with the other actor. He gave me lots of wonderful advice. A lot of it was just his ability to be playful.