How ‘homeless’ Chris turned it around

From stripping for a living and putting up in a van to becoming one of Hollywood’s most-loved and bankable action stars, Chris Pratt has certainly come a long way. Riding high on the success already of two of his films this year, Avengers: Infinity Wars and Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom, the actor is poised for another profitable year with more films coming up.

Listed as the fifth “best actor for the buck” by Forbes last year, having raked in $43 million in the past two years, Pratt grew up in a blue-collar household and was homeless for a long time.

“My high school wrestling coach reminds me about this time I came into his office and he said, ‘Chris, what do you want to do with yourself?’” Pratt, who is expected to make another $10 million for the new Jurassic World movie, had said in 2014. “I was like, ‘I don’t know, but I know I’ll be famous and I know I’ll make a s**t ton of money’,” Pratt added. He, however, had no idea how he was going to accomplish all that. Growing up in Lake Stevens, Washington, he cultivated his charm by selling blackberries door-to-door. He studied acting at a local community college for half a semester, but dropped out when he saw what he thought was a good money-making opportunity.

At 19, he began working as a stripper. “I was always a very much naked person. I loved to always get naked. I was very free, so I thought, I may as well get paid,” the 39-year-old had said in 2013.Pratt gave up the stripper life when a friend invited him to live off the land in Hawaii. “I had a friend who was like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to come out here,’ “the Passengers (2016) star told EW. “We set up camp on the beach and lived the dream.”

PHOTO: ROBYN BECK/AFP Chris Pratt sold blackberries door to door and stripped for a living initially