Pratt’s charm offensive
Two short years ago, Chris Pratt was best known as the lovably chubby but generally clueless Andy Dwyer on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, the guy who sporadically appeared in movies such as Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty. Then Guardians of the Galaxy came ca
How the actor has gone from chubby and clueless to bankable leading man.
1 HIS MEET-CUTE WITH ANNA FARIS IS WINNING. Pratt met Faris on the set of Take
Me Home Tonight in 2007. Just friends first (Faris was married to Ben Indra at the time), the two started dating after Faris filed for divorce. “It was like magnets,” he told Elle. “I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, in another life, that’s who I want to be with — we would be so good together, I just know it.’ ”
2 HE CHEERFULLY ANTICIPATES THAT HE’LL PUT HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH. After certain Avengers (cough, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner, cough) were forced to apologize for calling Black Widow a “slut,” Pratt pulled a pre-emptive strike. “I want to make a heartfelt apology for whatever it is I end up accidentally saying during the forthcoming #Jurassic World press tour,” he wrote on Facebook, adding: “To those I (will have) offended, please understand how truly sorry I already am.
“I am fully aware that the subject matter of my imminent forthcoming mistake, a blunder (possibly to be) dubbed ‘JurassicGate,’ is (most likely) in no way a laughing matter.”
3 HIS INSTAGRAM IS REALLY FUN. Tune into all things @prattprattpratt for shots of “alligatorfaced” flamingos, sweet family selfies (or “felfies,” as coined by Faris), and a cinematic photo of Lego Pratt riding a toy T. rex in the middle of London. “Official still shot from first day of production on the Jurassic
World sequel,” Pratt captioned the latter.
4 HE’S OK WITH NOSY BODY TRANSFORMATION QUESTIONS. Yes, Pratt has gained Official Hunk Status, but he also used to be the guy who stuffed himself with cheeseburgers during table reads of Parks and Rec. “I saw myself in an episode,” Pratt told
Men’s Health U.K., “and in the matter of two moments very close together, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m getting fat.’ And then almost immediately ... I thought, “Holy crap, I’ve never seen myself funnier.’ And I put the two together.”
Pratt continued packing on the pounds for the show while shedding weight fast for film roles. After walking out of a screening of Zero
Dark Thirty, “I was like: ‘I’m going to get in shape and I’m never going to be fat again.’ ... I was impotent, fatigued, emotionally depressed. ... It’s bad for your heart, your skin, your system, your spirit.”
5 HE’S SUCH A SWEET DAD. Now almost 3 years old, Pratt and Faris’ son, Jack, was born nine weeks early in 2012 and weighed less than 4 pounds. “I’ve done all kinds of cool things as an actor — I’ve jumped out of helicopters and done some daring stunts and played baseball in a professional stadium — but none of it means anything compared to being somebody’s daddy,” Pratt said last year in a speech at a March of Dimes luncheon. While cradling his son in neonatal intensive care, “I made promises in that moment about what kind of dad I wanted to be and I just prayed that he’d live long enough that I could keep them.”
Even cuter: In honor of Memorial Day, Pratt recently posted a video of himself teaching his wiggly toddler the Pledge of Allegiance. Swoon.