James Gunn Says Chris Pratt Isn’t Who People Think He Is
There are lots of actors named Chris these days. But the "Best Hollywood Chris" debate typically comes down to four main contenders, all of whom tend to play heroes in blockbusters: Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America) and Chris Pine (Captain James T. Kirk).
And while this debate generally tends to be in good fun, in October 2020, the internet seemed to come to a consensus: Mr. Pratt is the "worst" of the bunch (he himself has responded to this). This prompted some of his Marvel Cinematic Universe collaborators to come out and defend his honor—including, in our July/August cover story, writer and director James Gunn, who cast Pratt in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
"It absolutely infuriates me," Gunn says in an interview with Men's Health, insisting that the consensus Chris hierarchies are in fact wrong. "I know all those guys, and I like all those guys. But Chris Pratt is seriously one of the best people in my life."
Gunn, who describes himself as a "very close" friend of the 43-year-old star, has been one of the most important people in Pratt's entertainment ascent. He's the one who made the decision that led to the then-Parks and Recreation star becoming Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the very first Guardians film. And he's remained close with Pratt through the years, as he's expanded his role in the Marvel universe and also anchored the Jurassic World franchise. And he knows him better than anyone blowing off steam on Twitter.
"He's unspeakably kind to people, he goes out of his way to help kids," Gunn says. "He's an especially loving father, and there's just a lot of stuff that people have literally just made up about him. About his politics, about who he is, about what he believes of other people. I mean it's, it's just insane. And it really gets me very, very, angry."
Gunn and Pratt's working relationship will continue with both The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. These will mark Pratt's sixth and seventh appearances as Star-Lord (following the first two Guardians films, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and an appearance in this summer's Thor: Love & Thunder), and Gunn is promising Pratt's most surprising performance yet.
"As I was going through edits, I was like, 'Wow, people don't see this coming from this guy,' because it is a much more raw, emotional performance than I think he's ever done before. And he's just so, so good," he says. "Part of my responsibility is to take care of the actors, and I just feel like what I'm seeing from him is just so beautiful. It's really, really beautiful work."
He also knows that sometimes with these big franchises, once a performer has been around the block a few times, it can start to feel phoned in. That, definitively, is not the case here, he insists.
"You see that actors and franchises who are doing it for the fifth or sixth time, or whatever they're doing, they just stop caring and start collecting a paycheck," he says. "That's hard even for me. And he's the opposite of that."
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