Chris Pratt

Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor known for starring in television, as well as action and animated films.

He rose to prominence for his television roles, particularly as Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), for which he received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013.

He also starred earlier in his career as Bright Abbott in The WB drama series Everwood (2002–2006) and had roles in Wanted (2008), Jennifer's Body (2009), Moneyball (2011), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), Movie 43 (2013), Zero Dark Thirty (2013), Delivery Man (2013), and Her (2013).

Pratt went on to establish himself as a Hollywood leading man in 2014, with lead roles in two critically and commercially successful films: Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie as Emmet Brickowski, and Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy as Star-Lord. In 2015, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Pratt starred in Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and he reprised his Marvel role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Meanwhile, in 2016 he was part of an ensemble cast in The Magnificent Seven and the male lead in Passengers.

Christopher Michael Pratt was born on June 21, 1979, in Virginia, Minnesota, the youngest child of Kathleen Louise (née Indahl), who worked at a Safeway supermarket, and Daniel Clifton Pratt, who worked in mining and later remodeling houses. Pratt's father died in 2014 from multiple sclerosis. His mother is of Norwegiandescent. When Pratt was seven years old, the family moved to Lake Stevens, Washington. Pratt placed fifth in a high school state wrestling tournament; he later recalled that when his wrestling coach asked him what he wished to do with his life, he said "'I don't know, but I know I'll be famous and I know I'll make a shit ton of money.' I had no idea how. I'd done nothing proactive." He graduated from Lake Stevens High School in 1997.

Pratt dropped out of community college halfway through the first semester and, after working as a discount ticket salesman and daytime stripper, he ended up homeless in Maui, Hawaii, sleeping in a van and a tent on the beach. He told The Independent, "It's a pretty awesome place to be homeless. We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, just enough to cover gas, food, and fishing supplies." He recalled listening to the Dr. Dre album 2001 daily, to the point where he knew every lyric; years later, he rapped Eminem's verses from the song "Forgot About Dre" extemporaneously during an interview. During his time in Maui, he worked for Christian missionary organization Jews for Jesus.

2000–2013: Early work and breakthrough

At age 19, Pratt was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Maui when he was discovered by actress and director Rae Dawn Chong. She cast him in her directorial debut, the short horror film Cursed Part 3, which was filmed in Los Angeles. Pratt's first regular television role was as Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott on the series Everwood. After Everwood's cancellation, he joined the cast of The O.C. for its fourth season, playing activist Winchester "Ché" Cook. He also had an appearance in the 2008 action film Wanted, where James McAvoy hits him with a keyboard.

In 2009, Pratt began playing Andy Dwyer on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. Originally meant to be a temporary character, producers liked Pratt so much they asked him to become a series regular. This proved to be his breakthrough role.

Pratt portrayed Oakland Athletics first baseman/catcher Scott Hatteberg in the 2011 film Moneyball. He was initially told that he was too fat to play Hatteberg, as he had gained 40 pounds (18 kg), which Pratt attributed to the cooking of his then-girlfriend, actress Anna Faris. Deciding to lose weight, he worked out continuously, regularly checking to see if the part was cast, losing a total of 30 pounds (14 kg). When he felt he had lost enough, he sent a photo of himself to the casting director and won the part. Prior to the release of Moneyball, Pratt was typecast as youthful and somewhat immature characters. In Moneyball, he played a dramatic role as a father and dejected baseball player who once feared his career was over and who had the difficult task of learning a new defensive position.

He gained back the weight he had lost to appear in the film 10 Years (2011), then lost it again to portray a Navy SEAL in the film Zero Dark Thirty (2012). He played the co-worker of Joaquin Phoenix character in Spike Jonze's sci-fi romance Her in December 2013.

2014–present: Franchise work and worldwide recognition

While Pratt had been known to this point for playing supporting characters and was best known for his portly character on Parks and Recreation, 2014 marked a turning point in his career when he headlined two major studio films: Emmet Brickowski in The Lego Movie, which grossed $469.1 million; and Peter Quill / Star-Lord in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy, which grossed $773.3 million. Pratt had initially turned down the role of Peter Quill, explaining he did not "want another Captain Kirk or Avatar moment" (after humbling auditions for both). The film's casting director, Sarah Finn, suggested Pratt to the director James Gunn, who had struggled to cast that role and dismissed the idea. In spite of this, Finn arranged for a meeting between the two, at which point Gunn was convinced that Pratt was perfect for the role. Pratt also won over Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, despite having gained weight again for the comedy film Delivery Man. The role was part of a multi-film deal that Pratt signed with Marvel. Bruce Diones of The New Yorker noted, "Pratt, overflowing with charisma, plays the leader of the pack of misfits, and his blissed-out space cowboy (with a love for seventies music) is so full of good will that he buoys the film and its requisite whizbang special effects."

In November 2013, Pratt, an avid fan of Jurassic Park (1993) who has referred to the film as "my Star Wars", replaced Josh Brolin as the lead in Jurassic World (2015). He played Owen Grady, who works training Velociraptors. Jurassic World grossed $652.3 million in North America and $1.018 billion overseas for a worldwide total of $1.670 billion. His performance was praised, with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stating that Pratt "ace[d] it as an action hero and invests his sexual banter with a comic flair the movie could have used more of." He reprised the role in the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was released on June 22, 2018. Although a commercial success, the sequel received mixed reviews, with Brian Lowry of CNN criticizing the film for "largely neutralizing [...] Pratt's charm and comedic skills."

His next film role was as Josh Faraday, a gambler, in The Magnificent Seven, a remake of the 1960 Western with the same name, in which he starred alongside Denzel Washington. The film was released on September 23, 2016. Pratt's second 2016 release was Passengers, a science fiction film which opened in December, co-starring Jennifer Lawrence. Pratt played Jim Preston, "a mechanic, who wants to get off an Earth that no longer seems to value a guy who works with his hands".

Pratt reprised his role as Peter Quill / Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which was released in May 2017. The film focuses on Quill's and his team's search for his father. Pratt also reprised the character in Avengers: Infinity War, which was released in April 2018, and in Avengers: Endgame, which was released on April 26, 2019.

Additionally, Pratt reprised the voice role of Emmet in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part along with another character Rex Dangervest. In August 2017, Pratt was confirmed to star in the western drama The Kid. He is also set to appear as Duncan in the action film Cowboy Ninja Viking alongside Priyanka Chopra. Initially the movie was decided to be released in June 2019, however, on August 7, 2018, the film was pulled from the release list, nullifying the previous release date. In March 2020, Pratt had a lead voice role in the Disney/Pixar animated feature film Onward, alongside his Avengers co-star Tom Holland.

In May 2021, Pratt and Parks and Recreation announced the release this year of a new album based on Pratt's character Andy Dwyer. In June, 2021, they officially released a pair of singles, “The Pit” and “Two Birds Holding Hands”, and more details were released about the album, which is called Mouse Rat: The Awesome Album. The album is expected to be released in August, 2021. In September 2021, it was announced that Pratt would be voicing the Nintendo mascot Mario in an upcoming film based on the video game series of the same name.

In March 2014, Pratt was awarded the CinemaCon Award for Breakthrough Performer. In 2014, he was ranked at number two on People magazine's annual list of Sexiest Men Alive. Pratt was the featured cover story of the July 18 issue of Entertainment Weekly, which documented the evolution of his physique over the course of the previous 12 years, going from 220 pounds (100 kg) for his role on Everwood to 295 pounds (134 kg) for Delivery Man, to 225–230 pounds (102–104 kg) for his roles in Zero Dark Thirty and Guardians of the Galaxy. Pratt poked fun at his fluctuating physique in a musical number he performed during his monologue when he hosted the September 27, 2014 episode of Saturday Night Live. On April 21, 2017, Pratt received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry, located at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 2007, on the set of Take Me Home Tonight, Pratt met actress Anna Faris, who played his love interest in the film. They were engaged in late 2008 and married in Bali, Indonesia on July 9, 2009, eloping on a whim after a friend's wedding. They lived in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their son, Jack, was born in August 2012, nine weeks premature and weighing only 3 pounds 12 ounces (1.7 kg). Pratt stated that the birth of his preterm son "really defined" his faith in God, after both he and his wife "prayed a lot" as they were initially afraid of the baby's prognosis. The couple split in 2017 and finalized their divorce the following year.

Pratt began a relationship with author Katherine Schwarzenegger in June 2018. On January 13, 2019, Pratt announced that he and Schwarzenegger were engaged. They were married on June 8, 2019 in Montecito, California. In August 2020 their first child together, Lyla Maria, was born. Through his marriage to Schwarzenegger, he is a member of the Kennedy family.

Pratt was raised Lutheran and later worked for Jews for Jesus, eventually becoming a non-denominational Christian. Pratt reportedly attends the Zoe Church in Los Angeles, which is affiliated with the Hillsong Church and has been criticized by some as anti-LGBTQ. Pratt denied he attends an anti-LGBTQ church by stating: "It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which 'hates a certain group of people' and is 'infamously anti-LGBTQ.' Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens its doors to absolutely everyone."

Politically, Pratt has stated he does not feel represented by either side of the political spectrum and has expressed a desire to find common ground. He donated over $1,000 to Barack Obama's 2012 campaign.

In 2015, Pratt and Anna Faris donated $1 million to a charity which provided eyeglasses to underprivileged children. The donation was allegedly inspired by Pratt's son who was born premature and visually impaired. They also donated to neonatal intensive care unit of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and also supported March of Dimes which works to end premature births, birth defects and infant mortality.

In February 2021, Pratt donated $20,000 to fight hunger in South Carolina. The donation was part of a fundraiser by Pratt and an organization to raise $650,000 in order to fight food insecurity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Pratt also helped create the charity Feed Thy Neighbor to which he donated $100,000. Also in February 2021, he donated $10,000 to the Edmonds Food Bank as part of his organization and also donated to theEdmonds Chamber of Commerce and Edmonds Waterfront Center in Washington state.

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Cursed Part 3	Devon	Short film
2003	The Extreme Team	Keenan
2005	Strangers with Candy	Brason
2007	Walk the Talk	Cam
2008	Wieners	Bobby
	Wanted	Barry
2009	Bride Wars	Fletcher Flemson
	Deep in the Valley	Lester Watts
	Jennifer's Body	Roman Duda
	The Multi-Hyphenate	Chris	Short film
2011	Take Me Home Tonight	Kyle Masterson
	Moneyball	Scott Hatteberg
	What's Your Number?	Disgusting Donald
	10 Years	Cully
2012	The Five-Year Engagement	Alex Eilhauer
	Zero Dark Thirty	Justin
2013	Movie 43	Doug	Segment: "The Proposition"
	Mr. Payback	Darren	Short film
	Delivery Man	Brett
	Her	Paul
2014	The Lego Movie	Emmet Brickowski	Voice role
	Guardians of the Galaxy	Peter Quill / Star-Lord
2015	Jurassic World	Owen Grady
	Jem and the Holograms	Himself	Cameo
2016	The Magnificent Seven	Joshua Faraday
	Passengers	Jim Preston
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Peter Quill / Star-Lord
2018	Avengers: Infinity War
	Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom	Owen Grady
	Emmet's Holiday Party	Emmet Brickowski	Voice role; Short film
2019	The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part	Emmet Brickowski / Rex Dangervest	Voice role
	The Kid	Grant Cutler
	Avengers: Endgame	Peter Quill / Star-Lord
2020	Onward	Barley Lightfoot	Voice role
2021	The Tomorrow War	Dan Forester	also executive producer
2022	Thor: Love and Thunder	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	Post-production
	Jurassic World: Dominion	Owen Grady	Post-production
	Untitled Mario film	Mario	Voice role; Post-production
2023	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	Filming

Television

Video games

Theme park attractions