The current King of Action TV, Reacher’s Alan Ritchson, teamed up with the king of action movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger, for an upcoming holiday movie that sounds like it could be a Christmas delight for fans. As it turns out, Ritchson also came away from the project with a personal gift of his own, as he got a lesson in appreciating fame and perspectives from the Hollywood icon. In the upcoming 2026 release The Man with the Bag, Schwarzenegger’s take on Santa Claus has to seek out the help of a small-time crook, Ritchson’s character Vince, to aid in his mission to retrieve a stolen sack of presents. And when it drops in December, it’ll be his fourth starring role in a 2026 feature (after War Machine, Runner and Motor City), and it’ll arrive after both the fourth season of Reacher and the first season of Neagley, which he guest-stars in. Needless to say, he’s everywhere. As it turns out, working with a mega-celebrity like Arnold Schwarzenegger helped Ritchson gain a more rounded point-of-view about his own popularity, which he addressed during his appearance on the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (via YouTube). He addressed his increasing discomfort with being famous, saying:It was a treat. You know, he taught me a lot about how gratitude should manifest in the life of somebody dealing with fame. I'm transitioning into a part of my journey where I'm recognizing how present fame is and how toxic it is, and how intrusive. But also, like this relationship that I have with the audience, I'm so grateful for, and I want to foster that, and I want to continue to tell stories that resonate with people. There's a real symbiotic relationship there. I appreciate it. But man, I hate fame. Ritchson the pointed out how his family has also become more disdainful about how familiar he now is to the population at large, and how it causes constant disruptions when they go out to dinner or anywhere else. The struggle for him is balancing that time, as his wife would prefer him to shut off the fan-behooving part of his personality during family togetherness, but he understands that fans naturally don't get how stressful and constant the interruptions can be. But while those situations can be stressful for Ritchson, who says it's a constant struggle to worry about who he might disappoint on any given day, he pointed to Schwarzenegger being at a point where he just eats it up and gives in to the public's desires more often than not. The actor gave a specific example, saying:He’s dealt with [fame] for decades on a degree that I can’t quite understand. He stops for everybody. We would be in the middle of a scene in a diner, and people would be banging on the glass because our lockup wasn’t tight enough. They’re like, ‘Oh my God, will you take a picture with us?’ [He says], ‘Oh, be right there. Come outside and take a picture.’ He has no problem. He makes time for everybody.Alan Ritchson pointed out that he understands he may never be at the level of fame that Schwarzenegger has amassed over the years, and the Terminator star can still take the time to be so openly accepting to all of his fans. That had an inspiring effect on Ritchson, who said he pointed out his perspective shift to his wife, and how his co-star inspired a new kind of appreciation.So I look at that, and I’m like, ‘Cat, if this is his attitude, I have no excuse.’.... He showed me something really interesting in the way that he approaches life and his lot in life. And I really deeply admire how he treats people. The next few years may very well push Ritchson's fame beyond the threshold for mega-stardom. For one, he's got an overall deal with Amazon MGM to produce and star in new TV projects, and two, he recently signed a feature production deal with Netflix. Not to mention he admitted he’s in talks with James Gunn for a DCU role, though apparently not Batman. So even as famous as he currently is, the sky is still the limit as far as where he's going next. As far as his upcoming Schwarzenegger collab, The Man with the Bag is directed by Adam Shankman, from a script written by Allan Rice, and also stars Awkwafina, Kyle Mooney, Ken Jeong, Jane Krakowski, Liza Koshy and Michael Cyril Creighton. It’s set to make its streaming debut (via Amazon Prime subscription) on December 2, 2026.