Before donning Peter Quill’s (aka Star-Lord) red-eyed helmet in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Chris Pratt almost quit auditioning for Marvel movies because he “had a rough run” with the studio.
“I auditioned for Thor, but not even to be Thor – but to be one of the sidekick guys, and I didn’t get a callback,” Pratt said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “Usually they give you a little bit of feedback, and I remember the casting director goes, ‘Wow. You really made a big choice there.’ Which is code for like, ‘Hey, dial back the acting there, guy.’”
“It got to the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again,” he continued. “I was like, ‘This is stupid, I’m never gonna be in a Marvel movie.’”
Chris Pratt as Star-Lord. Source: Marvel Studios.
When asked which Marvel movies he auditioned for, Pratt said, “I mean, all of them. Anything that came out that needed a guy that even remotely looked like me, I auditioned for in some way or another. And I would either submit a tape and they would say ‘No, we don’t need to see him,’ or I would get there and see them, they’d go, ‘No, that’s the last time we need to see you.’”
During the casting process for the 2014 original, casting director Sarah Halley Finn urged director James Gunn to see Pratt, who was then known for his role as the beloved goofball Andy Dwyer on NBC’s Park and Recreation.
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Although uninterested at first, Gunn realized Pratt was the ideal Star-Lord seconds into his audition.
Gunn fought for Pratt’s casting in Guardians of the Galaxy, which was particularly challenging when the actor choked during his screen test.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Pratt recalled Gunn telling him at his screen test, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re blowing it.”
Then Gunn added, “This is the moment right now. You just need to stop doing whatever you’re doing and just be real. Just be you.”
Since landing the role of Star-Lord, Pratt has headlined three movies in both the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and Universal’s Jurassic World franchise.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters May 5; read IGN’S 8/10 review here.
Michaela Zee is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @michaelakzee.
