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With his breakout roles in mega blockbusters to his funny and goofy character seen in interviews, Chris Pratt is certainly one of the most popular stars in Hollywood.
The Star-Lord of Guardians of the Galaxy and Owen Grady of Jurassic World is a comedian and an action star who has managed to accrue tons of fans thanks to his many talents. But other than being a skilled entertainer in the public eye, this super-cool A-lister has also had some interesting experiences in life from being homeless to erm, stripping off for Amy Poehler.
In case you were up for some fun trivia, here is a list of Chris Pratt facts you probably didn’t know…
1. Chris Used to Be a Waiter…and a Stripper
Let’s start with the SHOCKING – indeed, Chris Pratt once worked as a daytime stripper. Before making it in Hollywood, 14 year-old Pratt had several dancer gigs. “I was always a very much naked person. I loved to always get naked. I was very free, so I thought, I may as well get paid”, the actor told Buzzfeed.
Other than stripping, in true Hollywood cliché form, Chris also used to wait tables at a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant. Only, he wasn’t waiting tables in Hollywood, or even in California. He was working in Hawaii when he met the actress Rae Dawn Chong, who inspired him and helped him get his start in acting.
2. He Was Once Homeless
Before he got his first acting job, Chris didn’t exactly have the Hollywood lifestyle. Alongside stripping, the comedian was once homeless, living in tents and most particularly, in a van with Shaggy and Scooby Doo painted on the side. “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 told The Independent.
It wasn’t until Rae Dawn Chong cast him in her short film, Cursed Part 3, that he got his first break and began his career in acting. He made $700 for that role. Damn, has he come a long way!
3. He was Married to Anna Faris
Although he’s now settled and loved up, Chris was actually previously married to fellow comedic actress, Anna Faris – for eight years. Chris met Anna on the set of the 2007 movie Take Me Home Tonight, they wed in 2009 and had a son together in 2012.
With a few things in common like their goofy senses of humor, growing up in Washington state, and each keeping a dead bug collection, fans truly thought this relationship was meant to be. But cheating rumors and work issues tore the two actors apart.
4. Chris is Married to a Schwarzenegger
Chris’ divorce from Anna Faris broke fans’ hearts, but he was given another chance at love with erm, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter, Katherine! That’s right, he has the coolest father-in-law in Hollywood!
Chris met Katherine at church in 2018 and a year later, they married in a beautiful ceremony in Montecito, California. In 2020, Chris and Katherine also welcomed a baby girl together named Lyla Maria. Imagine having The Terminator himself as your grandpa!
5. He’s a Member of the Kennedy Family
Here’s a fun fact! Since marrying Katherine, Chris Pratt is officially part of the Kennedy Family. That’s right! Katherine is the great-niece of President John F. Kennedy. Her mother was the daughter of JFK’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Talk about high status!
6. He’s Had Tons of Pets
Chris isn’t your typical dog or cat person. He prefers more exotic pets. At one point, he literally had a zoo in his own home. Talking to Seventeen, the actor revealed:
“I have a pet lizard named Puff, five goldfish – named Pinky, Brain, Jowels, Pearl and Sandy, an oscar fish named Chef, two pacus, an albino African frog named Whitey, a bonsai tree, four Venus flytraps, a fruit fly farm and sea monkeys.”
Of course he names his fish after cartoon characters and his albino frog “Whitey.” We don’t think he’s planning on growing up any time soon.
7. Chris Now Owns a Ranch
Clearly, Chris has a love for animals. So much so, that he owns his own ranch in San Juan Island named Stillwater Ranch. When he’s not filming a mega movie, this superstar keeps busy by gathering eggs, feeding his sheep and taking care of pigs.
Chris regularly snaps photos of his farm animals on Instagram and describes his relationship with animals as a “valuable life lesson”. According to Chris, they’ve taught him about “the harsh realities of the cycle of life to the rewards of compassion, stewardship, love and care”.
8. He’s Offended Many Fans
Despite his apparent passion for wildlife, Chris has come under fire by many animal-cruelty activists for his behavior. In 2011, he faced backlash after trying to give away his 15-year-old cat on Twitter because it was too much trouble to take care of. In a since-deleted tweet, Chris wrote, “Anyone in the LA area want a cat? Full disclosure, she’s old and prone to accidents. So sweet though.”
Then in 2018, the actor was criticized again after expressing excitement for elk hunting on Instagram. One fan wrote, “You shoot defenseless animals with high-powered rifles? OK. You’ve gone down in my estimations. Shame.”
9. Chris’ Son Helped Him ‘Find God’
Unless you follow Chris Pratt on social media, you may not know that this guy is a pretty big believer of God. Describing himself as an “Evangelical Christian”, Chris apparently found God after his son, Jack, was born nine weeks premature in August 2012. He told ABC News, “We were scared for a long time. We prayed a lot. It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it.”
10. Chris Got His First Headshots From a Stranger
According to Pratt, he was living in the “predominantly gay area” of West Hollywood when a man he had never met before asked if he could shoot him. Chris went back to the stranger’s apartment, took a shower there, and somehow this story still has a happy ending. That headshot got Chris his role on TV’s Everwood.
11. He Wanted to be a Stuntman
Chris claims that as a kid, he wanted to be a stuntman so bad that he used to “practice falling down the stairs”. What can we say? He knows the value of good physical comedy and is even willing to take a few hits if it will make someone laugh. I guess you could say he’s a master of Pratt-falls.
12. He Purposely Gained Weight for ‘Parks and Rec’
According to Chris and the co-creators of Parks and Rec, putting on weight for the role of Andy worked better for physical comedy. According to ET Online, Chris already put on weight at the start of the show, but he realized it’s what made his character stand out – “Well, I remember in the first couple of seasons, just unintentionally, I had gotten a little fat and I was watching the episodes and I was like, ‘Oh, God, Chris, you’ve really let yourself go. And then I was like, ‘but this is some of the funniest stuff you’ve ever done.’”
Co-creator Michael Schur told Pratt he’d be happy if the actor gained 30 to 40 pounds for the role. “And so I did,” Chris recalled. “Then it became a challenge. Everyone wanted to see how much I could eat.”
13. He Lost 60 Pounds in 6 Months
Here’s a mind-blowing fact! Between the end of Parks and Rec and the start of shooting for Guardians, Chris had to lose 60 pounds to shape up – and so he did. Then weighing around 300 pounds, the sitcom star had to transform his body to represent the iconic Marvel character, Star-Lord. “Three or four hours a day of just consistent, ass-kicking hard work”, he told Men’s Journal.
14. Chris Turned Down the ‘Guardians’ Role
Chris Pratt initially turned down the role of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2013. Speaking to EW, he revealed, “I was probably scared, and thought I was too fat to play a super hero. I didn’t want another Captain Kirk or ‘Avatar’ moment.”
Even director James Gunn dismissed the idea- “That’s the chubby guy from ‘Parks And Rec—you’ve got to be kidding,”, he said. After deciding to finally audition however, Gunn was immediately convinced that Pratt was perfect for the role. Thank goodness! Nobody could have played Peter Quill better than Chris!
15. Chris Believes Men Should Be Objectified
Apparently Chris Pratt’s idea of gender equality is not objectifying women less, but objectifying men more. Since gaining a six-pack, he’s happy to put his action hero body out there in support of this quasi-feminist cause.
Speaking to with Radio 4’s Front Row (via Yahoo UK), Chris said, “I think it’s appalling that for a long time only women were objectified, but I think if we really want to advocate for equality, it’s important to even things out…not objectify women less, but objectify men just as often as we objectify women. There are a lot of women who got careers out of it, and I’m using it to my advantage. And at the end of the day, our bodies are objects. We’re just big bags of flesh and blood and meat and organs that God gives us to drive around.”
Despite rejecting what society values as far as appearance most of the time, we have to admit he tends to look pretty good.
16. Chris Has Musical Talent
We all know Chris Pratt has great rhythm! The actor has grooved away in Guardians of the Galaxy and rolled his hips behind the scenes of Jurassic World, and we’ve already learned that he was once a stripper. So it only makes sense that the actor is also a talented dancer in real-life.
He even did a Michael Jackson skit in high school where he did the whole dance to Thriller. “For some odd reason the one memory that jumps to mind was how good of a moonwalker he was,” a former classmate revealed. He also sings and plays the guitar, too!
17. He Got Naked For Amy Poehler
There’s a scene in Parks and Rec where Chris’ character Andy shows up naked, surprising Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope. Chris wore nude underwear in the first few takes, but they couldn’t get the reaction they wanted out of Amy. On the next take he went fully nude! Amy Poehler’s genuinely shocked reaction is the one they used on the show. Brave is an understatement!
18. He Stole Star-Lord’s Costume
Chris Pratt stole Star-Lord’s costume from the Guardians set – all for good reason! The actor visits children’s hospitals in this very costume to make sick children happy on a regular basis. Now, that’s what you call a man with a big heart! We knew he was just as much a superhero in real life as he is on television!
19. He Predicted He’d Star in ‘Jurassic World’
It’s hardly convincing when you tell yourself you’re going to star in one of the biggest movie franchises one day. For Chris Pratt, though, he predicted this dream would be real many years before. In 2010, Pratt filmed a behind-the-scenes video on Parks and Rec pretending to shrug off Steven Spielberg about a role in “Jurassic Park 4”.
“I just got a text message from Steven Spielberg — so annoying,” Pratt joked in the video. “I’ll have to get back to you later about Jurassic Park 4.”
Five years down the line and boom, Chris is starring as the movie’s lead role. “It was a joke that I made,” Pratt told ET. “I guess it just goes to show that if you read the book The Secret and you put things out there, they all come true,” he joked.
20. He Was Dubbed the ‘Worst Chris’ of Hollywood’
Sounds harsh, right? In 2020, a viral Twitter tradition debating which Hollywood Chris “has to go” forced people to choose between Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, and Chris Pratt. The latter was voted the ‘worst’ due to theories that he is a Trump supporter and because of his apparent support of an anti-LGBT church (in which he defended).
From famously stealing his Marvel costume to being dubbed the “worst Chris”, we can certainly see why Chris Pratt has made his mark in the acting world! Keep up the good work you funny man, you!
Which of these cool facts about Chris Pratt surprised you the most? Let us know in the comment section below!
There are some sections of this article that were written by Kasey Rubenstein.
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