“This is stupid”: how Chris Pratt turned a “rough run” into Hollywood superstardom
If there’s a crappy-looking action movie coming to a streaming service, then you can bet that Chris Pratt will be involved.
The controversial actor has become a go-to leading man for overly expensive romps that get low scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Given his humble start as a comedy actor on shows like Parks & Recreation, it’s remarkable just how far he’s come. Of course, we all know which role we have to thank (or curse) for the position he is in now.
In 2014, Pratt led an ensemble cast in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. As Peter ‘Star-Lord’ Quill, he forms the ragtag group of alien outlaws and giant tree monsters and reluctantly saves a planet from the wrath of an evil warlord. Nobody expected the film to do well, for the Guardians weren’t exactly a well-known property at the time, but through Gunn’s direction, a stellar script, and a now-legendary soundtrack, it became a mega-smash. Pratt has gone on to reprise his role in two direct sequels, which are among the best entries in the Marvel canon, as well as a number of team-up movies.
As the actor revealed to Variety in 2023, Guardians represented something of a Hail Mary. Star-Lord wasn’t the first comic book character the actor had auditioned for, as he described the “rough run” he had had with Marvel before he finally made it work.
“I auditioned for Thor,” he said, “Not even to be Thor, but to be one of the sidekick guys, and I didn’t get a callback… It got to the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again. I was like, ‘This is stupid, I’m never gonna be in a Marvel movie’.”
He is seemingly referring to the ‘Warriors Three’, Hogun, played by Tadanobu Asano, Volstagg, played by Ray Stevenson, and Fandrall, played by Joshua Dallas, a group of Asgardian fighters who accompany Chris Hemsworth’s Norse God on his many battles. While Pratt clearly felt like he missed out at the time, he really didn’t lose out on too much. No offence to the Warriors Three, but they are completely forgettable. This is so true that Marvel replaced Dallas with Zachary Levi for the second and third movies, and barely anyone noticed. All three characters were killed at the start of Thor: Ragnarok.
Pratt wasn’t the only A-lister to try out for the ‘God of Thunder’. Equally, Thor wasn’t the only Marvel hero that Pratt went up for. He also wanted to play Captain America, ultimately losing out to another Chris, Mr Evans.
“I would either submit a tape, and they would say ‘No, we don’t need to see him’,” he said of the audition process, “Or I would get there and see them, they’d go, ‘No, that’s the last time we need to see you’.”
In the end, all three Chrises landed in the perfect roles. Pratt would have struggled with the ultra-macho persona of the early Thor films and Cap’s Boy Scout optimism. Star-Lord’s sarky deviance is exactly where he excels, so much so that he’s basically played him in every other movie he’s been in since.
