C
hrispratthadreadforbigstarring
rolesbefore.Heread forJamesT.Kirk in
J.J. Abrams’
StarTrek
. Didn’t get it. He
readforthe lead in
Avatar
.Notonlydidhenotget
it, hewas told that hedidn’t have the “it” factor
theywanted— that special charisma thatmakes
someone a star. “Iwalked into that [audition]
room knowing that I didnot have that thing,”
he told
EntertainmentWeekly
, “andIwalkedout
thinkingIwouldneverhavethatthing,probably.”
During our interview, there is nohint of the
doughy, unsure guywho hoped only for “best
friend” roles for the
rest of his career.
In fact, as the great
writerDrewMagary
noted ina
GQ
profile
of Pratt last year, it’s
hardnot to immedi-
ately like Pratt and
feel like you could
be his best buddy if
he just gave you the
chance.
I’ve interviewedmanybig-nameactors,musi-
cians,sportsstarsandpoliticians.ButwhenPratt
walks inthedoorforour interview,squaresuphis
perpetuallybuff torso tomine and flashes that
big,mischievous smile, it’s everything I cando
not tosay, “So,doyou likeme,Chris?AmIdoing
okay?”His easygoing swagger is that
mesmerizing.
That said, once he starts talking
about his career and life, he loses the
breezinessandtriestotakeeachques-
tion seriously. (Even thedumbones.)
Questions like:
“Is your success as a leadingman/
herocharacterultimately tied toyour
everymanpersona?”
“[He considers this as he audibly
goes throughhisroles.Emmitt in
The
LegoMovie
?Yeah, yeah.]That’sprob-
ablytrue. Icame fromaprettynormal
working-class family that was often
broke but never poor.We got by; we
laughedourassesoff.Even thoughwe
didn’thavefancystuffandcouldn’taf-
fordmuch, itwasagreatportraitofthe
AmericanDream—upper lowerclass,
52
JUNE2015
AMERICANWAY
or lowermiddleclass…whateverwewere.Upper
lowermiddle class. The bottom of themiddle
class.Mydadwas super strict, andmymomwas
very lovingandwonderful; ultrasupportive.Not
a critical bone inherbody. So that combination
probablydidproduceaguywho is just anormal
man, aneveryman type.”
In fact, themore youhear about Pratt’s pre-
Hollywoodlife,themoresuper-normal-everyman
hesounds.HewasborninVirginia,Minnesota,and
grewup inLakeStevens,Washington.Hismom
worked inaSafeway supermarket.Hisdad (who
passedlastyear)workedinagoldmineandtaught
him tohuntandfish. (Pratt isanavidguncollec-
tor andhunter to this day.)He excelled inhigh
school football andwrestlingbutwasanaverage
student.Prattdroppedoutofcommunitycollege
afterone semester andmoved toHawaii,where
he “literally lived inavandownby the river.”He
wasdiscoveredby ’80s actressRaeDawnChong
while hewasworking at BubbaGump Shrimp
Company inMaui.ShetookhimtoLosAngelesto
star inherdirectorialdebut, a low-budgethorror
filmcalled
CursedPart3
.Pratt likedactingbetter
thanworkinginrestaurants.Heauditionedaround
town, including for aFriskies cat-food commer-
cial hedidn’t get. Finally, he landedTV roleson
teen-targetedshows like
Everwood
and
TheO.C.
Fromthere,hehadwhatyourHollywoodsnob
might call a“nice littlecareer.”Supporting roles
“Ineedtodoas
manybigmovies
asIcanwhile
there’sstilltime.
Becauseyounever
knowwhat’snext.”
Pratt in
Guardiansof theGalaxy
(top)andwith
NickOfferman (right)on
ParksandRecreation
FROMTOP:WALTDISNEYSTUDIOSMOTIONPICTURES/PHOTOFEST; PHOTOFEST/©NBC
