For ‘Avengers,’ ‘great time to be a Chris’
BEVERLY HILLS – What happens when two of the world’s most famous Chrises join forces?
Well, in person, “Avengers: Infinity War” stars Chris Hemsworth, 34, and Chris Pratt, 38, end up cracking each other up a lot.
“My brother goes: ‘I hate that guy. He’s got Brad Pitt’s waist and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s arms,’ ” Pratt said as they laughed.
Hemsworth’s Thor and Pratt’s Peter Quill (a.k.a. Star-Lord of “Guardians of the Galaxy”) team up to take on Thanos (Josh Brolin), a villain closing in on his goal of collecting the all-powerful Infinity Stones. (Another Chris, Chris Evans, plays Captain America, who returns to fight Thanos beside Black Panther, Black Widow and others.)
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine when the rough-around-the-edges intergalactic outlaw Star-Lord shares the spotlight with the famously ripped God of Thunder in the massive superhero mashup, which formally opens Friday, after showings just about everywhere Thursday night.
“We mined for comedy in the idea that (Star-Lord is) a little intimidated by him and jealous of him,” Pratt said. “Drax and Gamora and the whole Guardians team, when we encounter Thor, they’re all just astounded by his muscles and his facial symmetry and his hair. And Peter Quill’s like, ‘Uh, guys?’ ”
Last year, when Hemsworth arrived on the Atlanta set of “Infinity” War as a newcomer to the Guardians’ world, it felt like a stacked game.
He had just finished shooting “Thor: Ragnarok,” where, frankly, he ruled his own superhero domain.
“I didn’t know anybody,” Hemsworth said of the “Infinity War” set. “I came off my film feeling better than I ever had in the shoes of that character, and all the sudden I felt like, ‘Oh, my God, why am I self-conscious all of a sudden?’ ”