Jason Ritter Reveals His Dad John Ritter Was Often Confused with Beau Bridges in the Past

Jason Ritter is opening up about the odd connection between real-life dad John Ritter and TV dad Beau Bridges.

“Beau is so lovely,” Ritter, 45, said of the actor who plays his character’s father on CBS’s Matlock reboot during a Sunday, March 23, panel discussion at PaleyFest L.A. “And there’s this strange thing when Beau [was] cast: Throughout my entire childhood and my life, my dad and Beau were mistaken for each other, all the time.”

“There is a bit of a physical similarity,” Ritter admitted, and photos of the two actors from the ’70s and ’80s do show a passing resemblance.

According to Ritter, that occasionally led to some hilarious mishaps.

“My dad one time got a fan letter from someone who listed all of these things that he had done and the performances that they loved and said, ‘Could you please sign the enclosed picture?’ ” Ritter recalled.

The photo, Ritter said, was of Bridges.

When Bridges was cast as his Matlock character’s father, Ritter said, “I already had this weird feeling of connection to him.”

“Also, strangely, I had done a play reading with him where I played a character that he had originated when he did the play originally in the ’70s,” Ritter added. “And so, I had met him at that time.”

Ritter explained that having that preexisting connection with Bridges, 83, helped him to tap into the “decades of history” between their Matlock characters.

At the PaleyFest L.A. event, the actor chatted with PEOPLE about another “strange and interesting” connection between his dad and Matlock. John Ritter, who died in 2003, costarred with The Andy Griffith Show alumnus Don Knotts in Three’s Company from 1979 to 1984, and Andy Griffith, of course, starred as defense attorney Ben Matlock in the original Matlock series from 1986 to 1995.

While Jason admitted he never got a chance to meet Griffith, he shared fond memories of getting to know Knotts through his dad.

“As a kid I definitely met him a bunch of times,” he said of Knotts, who died in 2006. “He made me laugh so much.”