A CHAT WITH PRATT
The Guardians Of The Galaxy star talks fatherhood, body image and his total hotness, as the sequel reaches new box-office heights
Chris Pratt may now be the most bankable movie star in the world. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 has just opened in the US, a week after it debuted here in the UK, and is already nearing half a billion dollars in the global box office (the original made $773m in total). And Jurassic World, in which Chris played the male lead, is the fourth biggest movie of all time. Pretty good for the 37 year old, who rose to fame as tubby slacker Andy Dwyer in US sitcom Parks And Recreation.
Pratt is now a ripped, square-jawed, deeply hot action hero, and hugely likeable as well. A major element of that bankability is his natural charm, which is palpable from pretty much every answer he gives in our conversation. Happy to chat in a thoroughly self-aware, wryly humorous manner about that body of his, as well as being a father and a stay-at-home-husband alongside his equally sweet and smart wife, Anna Faris, Pratt keeps it real as much as any movie star we’ve ever come across. A nd now he’s happier than ever, because he’s got the coolest veteran actor of them all playing his dad in Guardians Vol 2…
Just when we thought the Guardians franchise couldn’t get any cooler, you add Kurt Russell into the mix…
That’s what I said. What if we could get Kurt Russell – let’s just sit back and dream for a second, and then figure out who we can really get. Because there is no way.
Was it difficult trying to persuade him to take the part?
The gods were smiling down on us for this one. Kurt is, to me, someone I get speechless around. Well, I don’t any more, I learned to handle that, because it would have been weird. He was my hero. The character Snake Plissken, the film Big Trouble In Little China – he’s why I became an actor.
Wow, you really are a fan…
Seriously. Overboard, I love that movie, my wife loves it. I see a lot of Goldie Hawn in her – there’s an odd parallel to my life, because
people have said there’s a bit of a similarity with him and I. I’m basically trying to replicate his life, because I’m deranged and obsessed with him.
How did you get him to sign up?
James [Gunn, the director] sent him the script. He hadn’t seen the first film, but it all clicked when he did. He recognised where we were going and it fell into place perfectly. And I got to live out my dream fantasy, where Kurt Russell is my dad.
There was a lot of pressure on the first Guardians film, wasn’t there?
You guys were asking, “How does it feel to be in the first Marvel movie that’s gonna bomb?”
We never asked that!
Somebody said it to me. [Laughs.] How you like me now? So, it’s no secret expectation was very, very low when we came out. No one had ever heard of them, not even comic-book fans, you know? Same for me, no one knew who I was. It seemed all very worryingly unknown for the general audience.
Yet, it was a surprise hit…
It was this huge shock to everyone. Not to me, I had faith. Not to James Gunn, not to anyone who had worked on the movie, we knew it was really great. But to be so well received at the box office, and critically, surprised a lot of people.
Which we guess makes it a hard act to follow?
The expectations are high. We notched up 81million views of the trailer on Youtube in 24 hours, which is the record for any Marvel movie. I’m not saying it’s a competition, but if it was, we won! This built-in audience appreciated the fact we didn’t go down the same tested path, and the question now was, where do we go that is different to the first? But not so different that we alienate the audience and fans.
How has your character, Peter Quill, changed since the first movie?
He’s adjusting to space fame. He’s the leader of the rogue bandits who beat Ronan, and saved billions of people, so these guys are on another level. He’s acting as the ringleader, which he’s happy with, but there’s struggles internally. He’s grown up a little, he’s evolved maybe towards adolescent-hood. Hardly responsible adulthood yet, but he’ll get there.
Peter is super-famous, just like you are now. How has life changed for you in the last three years?
Nothing has really changed. People come up to me on the street sometimes, but I’m the same person I was. The only big change is that I have a four year old [son, Jack], that’s the real change in life. The other stuff, it doesn’t have a big as effect as you’d be led to believe. It came to me at the wrong time and the right time. In the sense of getting invited to every party – all that exclusive shit. Anna [Faris, Pratt’s wife] and I don’t do that – we don’t party. We keep it very chilled at home. It’s wasted on me, frankly.
Are you happy it didn’t happen to you when you were a bit younger then?
It’s a really good thing I didn’t have all this stuff attached to this chapter in my career when I was younger. A 20 year old should not be famous, period. Because 20 year olds f**k up – that’s what they’re supposed to do, and f**k up in the privacy of their own world, not splashed across magazines. If I was famous at that age, I’d have screwed my career because of my general penchant for screwing up.
How so?
We don’t need to go into the details. Use your imagination. Actually, don’t get too imaginative. [Laughs.]
You must be the coolest dad?
I’m a really cool dad.
Did you take Jack on set with you?
I did– he’s always on set, he loves it. It’s a giant fluorescent playground. He loved the first Guardians, so I think it’s all quite cool to him. He thinks his dad drives a spaceship. And he also thinks I’m a cowboy from Magnificent Seven.
Which set did he prefer?
Probably Magnificent, only because he got to ride a horse. Horse, spaceship, it’s a no-brainer.
Do you think he will follow in the family trade?
You know, I thought maybe, but I actually think he might go behind the camera. He keeps picking up my phone and saying, “Action,” very emphatically.
He really means it. I think he’s fascinated by the world, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he went into the industry. If he has any sense, it will be behind the camera, where all the power is.
People always comment on your general hotness and transformation. Do you find it annoying?
I never tire of talking about how hot I am now. Can this entire interview, and all interviews for the rest of the day, be dedicated to how hot I am?
Is it surreal to you, how different you look?
When I look at older stuff I’ve done, like Parks
And Rec, I do not recognise that guy. I can’t see myself. It’s really f**king surreal. It’s like I’ve aged backwards, I’ve Benjamin Buttoned. [Laughs.] I don’t know who that guy is. I don’t want to go back there, because I wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t exercising like I should. I never felt it happening, I never felt bigger, it only hits me now when I look back.
Did it affect your confidence?
Actually, before I started acting, I looked great naked. I wasn’t always out of shape. Some people actually wanted to see me naked, you know, not just for laughs.
But do you feel happier now?
I lost some weight, got an ab or two – it’s not the recipe for life happiness. I’m happy now, but I was happy then. I just needed to lose weight for work and it’s sort of stuck now. I miss happy moments that I had with really great food. I have sad moments now, because I’m hungry, and I don’t like that. I don’t like having to think what certain foods will do to my body. That’s not fun.
So, you’re not obsessed with your looks?
It can’t – and shouldn’t ever – be about how you look. How depressing would that be? It’s about sound body, sound mind, and keeping as healthy as you can, because we’ve only one body. I’m going to get fat again, I am. So, be happy with who you are.
You’ve said before that you never want to complain about fame. Does it piss you off yet?
Nothing about it bothers me to the point where’s it’s affecting my life adversely. So, no complaints as of yet.
How do you not turn into an asshole, in an industry that’s full of them?
I think it’s as simple as, if you’re an asshole, nobody’s going to want to work with you. So, don’t be an asshole. When they say you’re only as good as your next job, in acting that really is the truth, because you’re not contracted – you don’t have tenure.
That’s true…
You work on one job for two months, then you’re waiting for the next one, you get it, it’s four months, then you might be waiting again. You’re an actor for hire, and if you’re known for being an asshole, having a bad attitude, treating the crew like shit, whatever, you will not work any more. It happens all the time, which is how it should be. Even if you’re working a hit franchise that hangs on your presence – once that ends, and you’re an asshole, you’re done. You see guys who are always consistently working because people like to work with them. It’s everything. Be nice, for f**k’s sake.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 is in cinemas now
‘It shouldn’t be about how you look. Be happy with who you are’