‘Ransom Canyon’s’ Jack Schumacher reveals painful truth behind shirtless scenes

There’s so much for viewers of Netflix’s “Ransom Canyon” to fall in love with – from the on-off romance between Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel) and Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly) to the sweeping Texas landscapes (actually filmed in New Mexico).

But few characters inspired as much rabid online “Ransom Canyon” devotion as Jack Schumacher’s mysterious cowboy Yancy Grey.

Schumacher, 33, says he doesn’t follow the online love, but Yancy became a breakout fan favorite even before his smoking Episode 5 pre-rodeo workout montage, in which the shirtless ranch hand hurls a massive tractor tire while sporting seriously raging rhomboids.

“If you’re living on a farm and you don’t have access to Equinox, you’re going to use whatever you’ve got with you,” the Los Angeles-living Schumacher tells USA TODAY, admitting that jeans with a huge belt buckle weren’t the ideal workout outfit for tractor tire-lifting, even if they looked good paired with the top. “It was not comfortable. You might want a little bit of Lululemon action if you’re going to be doing that for real.”

Here’s what to know about Schumacher’s Yancy Grey, who is blowing up Season 2 of “Ransom Canyon” (now streaming).

Tom Cruise had the need for Schumacher in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

As a Los Angeles newbie, Schumacher recalls being blown away when his manager told him that producer and star Tom Cruise was personally reviewing his audition tape for 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”

“That was the trippiest call ever, to find out that Tom Cruise was watching my tape. I was like, ‘That Tom Cruise?'” says Schumacher, who was cast as Lt. Neil “Omaha” Vikander, one of the Navy aviators training under Cruise’s Maverick. “That was an unbelievable experience from start to finish.”

It was even great after Omaha lost screen lines for story reasons.

“I have three or four lines in the original draft,” says Schumacher, who understood when one filmed line went to Danny Ramirez as Lt. Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia during reshoots. “It made sense because, if you’re watching the movie, why would Omaha step in with this quippy remark? It would have been like, ‘Wait, who’s this guy?'”

Omaha does sing in the famed “Great Balls of Fire” piano scene.

Yancy is in the center of the ‘Ransom Canyon’ Season 2 drama

Getting the “Ransom Canyon” role as drifter ranch hand Yancy was huge for Schumacher, who is in the thick of the Season 2 drama. Yancy’s wedding plans with Ellie Estevez (Marianly Tejada) are derailed by the arrival of his former con partner – and current legal wife – played by “Chicago Fire” star Heidi Grace Engerman. The revelation threatens everything Yancy has built, including his relationship with Ellie and his dream of holding onto his ranch.

“When my ex shows up in town, it really puts Yancy to the test. It takes everything to navigate,” Schumacher says. “It’s like defusing a bomb.”

While he has a shady past, Yancy is a good man.

“The whole arc of Season 2 is Yancy being the man he knows he can be,” says Schumacher, who loves the added Season 2 drama of Ellie’s pregnancy. “It really raises the stakes.”

It’s hard to prepare for ‘Ransom Canyon’ shredded scenes

The role of often-shirtless Yancy requires supreme dedication, with hours-long workouts and a daily diet that starts with a protein shake or bone broth.

“And then 4 p.m. hits and I eat dinner like a 90-year-old person,” says Schumacher. “I have a giant dinner, usually a lot of meat.”

His biggest vice is sugar, specifically pies from Winston Pies in Studio City, California, near his home.

“I go there three times a week, it’s embarrassing,” Schumacher says. “I’m five years sober from drugs and alcohol, but sugar still has my number. I’m working on that constantly.”

Shooting a ripped, muscle moment (and there are many!) requires a long build-up, during which Schumacher cuts down on water to highlight his physique leading up to the scene.

“If I’m trying to look as shredded as possible, I’ll cut down on calories and water, which is the worst part of it,” says Schumacher. “On the day, you feel horrible. So Season 2, for those scenes where I have my shirt off, just know I’m not feeling so good.”

Schumacher paid $1,000 to learn he couldn’t line dance on ‘Ransom Canyon’

Don’t expect to see Schumacher join in highly choreographed “Ransom Canyon” line-dancing scenes, which feature stars like Kelly along with professional dancers.

“I was hanging out on set watching the line dancing in Season 1 and everyone’s so good, like Minka,” says Schumacher. “And I am without a doubt the worst dancer in the world. But I was jealous. It was like, ‘This looks really cool. Maybe I should figure out how to dance.'”

When he returned to Los Angeles after Season 1, Schumacher threw down for personal line dancing lessons.

“I spent like, a thousand bucks to do private lessons because I was like, ‘There’s no way I can dance in front of other people,'” Schumacher says. “After Lesson 7, I asked my amazing dance instructor, ‘Am I the worst? Be honest.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, you’re pretty up there.’ I can’t move my body. I just can’t.”