Chris Pratt is best known for his roles on the TV series Parks and Recreation and Everwood. He’s also scored roles in films like Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Five-Year Engagement.
The 34 year-old’s latest film role is as Brett in the comedy Delivery Man. The film is a remake of a 2011 French-Canadian film titled Starbuck, of which are both directed by Ken Scott.
The film stars Vince Vaughn, David Wozniak, a sperm donor known only as “Starbuck” who has fathered over 500 children. Pratt was asked about something that he personally related to in the film.
“I really like my mom in real life,” Pratt answers, “This character has a difficult relationship with his mom, so that was something dissimilar. My mom is really cool, I don’t know. Oh, also, I’m a new father. So I know what it’s like to have, I don’t know what it’s like to have a whole troop of rug rats running around, but I know what it’s like to have one kid and I know what it’s like to miss a little sleep…I know what it’s like to be a dad, so there’s a little bit of that.”
Pratt talks about his own family in comparison to the big family in Delivery Man.
“I’m from a good size family,” Chris says, “I’m the youngest of three, and I’ve got a lot of close cousins, and family something has always been very important to me. I don’t know if it grew like that. We would probably just take them all in. No, my dad would probably just put them all to work is what would happen.”
Chris was asked how being a parent has changed his life.
“You can’t help but change when you have a kid,” Pratt says, “And for me it was just a sense of I didn’t feel like anything was missing in my life and it wasn’t. It all came at just the right time, and now if I am absent from my son I do feel like something is missing. But before that I was very fulfilled and I was having a lot of fun, and I was sowing wild oats and doing the kind of things that you should do when you don’t have kids. Now, I’m just doing less of that, but I earned it. Like, I feel like just spending quiet evenings with my wife and son and sitting in bed in the morning and watching him marvel over the curtains opening or whatever little thing, that all it feels really good.”
“And so, I’ve changed because like I’m impressed,” he adds, “What’s funny is the way I’ve changed is I’ve got a whole new window through which to see the world, and everything is exciting for me again. Things that I took granted are exciting for me again, the way something feels or smells or tastes or how drawers open. I’m like, ‘Look at that, kid. That is actually really cool.’ It’s like just a wall with a knob and then you pull it, and there’s a bunch of shit in there. What is that about? I wouldn’t take a minute to appreciate a draw before my son.”
One of Pratt’s biggest upcoming roles is as Star-Lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film adaptation of Guardians Of The Galaxy, which is set for release August 1 of next year. He was asked to talk about what it was like coming back to the States and if he’s trying to do more diverse roles.
“Oh, well, to address the first question, yeah, the transition back has been really nice,” he replies, “And making sure that you spend enough time nurturing your relationship. I spent three days in New York with my wife, just the two of us, which was really, really great. I mean we just had an amazing time, and made up for lost time. I wouldn’t be surprised if nine months from now Jack has a brother or sister maybe. No, but we had a good time and it was great, and like what Vince said it’s really important to nurture that. So that really helped with the transition. I think coming back from London to L.A. is a lot easier than going from L.A. to London in terms of the time change, because it just gives you a few extra mornings to sleep in and then you’re back on time. Oh, and one thing, you know, it’s weird as actors because I mean we’re fortunate in the group of people who have to spend time away from their families. There are men and women serving overseas who certainly have it a lot harder than we do, and there are jobs that take people away from the families and that’s a reality with some jobs that you have. And one thing that’s really difficult I find is the transition because not only do you have to learn how to transition to living on your own again, there’s a transition that happens learning how to live with somebody again. You know, I’ll be home and I’ll be like on my computer, and I’ll think, ‘Oh, should I be in the other room where she is because is that what’s supposed to happen when you live together? Or is it okay for me to be here like checking my e-mail in this room. Like you just don’t know. So there’s a little bit of a transition period that happens going away from your loved ones, and coming back in. But the transition period has been great, and I went back to work on Parks and Rec, which is an awesome family that I really love to work with and so that’s really nice.”
“Then, the second question was are there…” Chris adds, “I just want roles, and you said roles that I was chomping at the bit to play. I don’t know. Yeah, all of them. I just want juicy ones that all taste good and I’ll chomp away, but there are good roles, and I want to work with great filmmakers. I want to work with great actors. I’ve learned a lot from working Vince on this movie. A friend of mine once told me that it’s really important to always pick somebody just to watch because you’re going to learn something. And I learned so much from watching Vince not only just in terms of acting and being professional and being sharp on set, but also how to treat your fans when they approach you and stuff. I mean this guy anywhere he goes he gets recognized, which is something that I don’t necessarily have that I’ll get recognized from time to time. But really Vince can’t go anywhere without being confronted by people who just really love him. That sounds like it would be really great, but I think after a while that can be overwhelming, and I never once saw him treat somebody poorly. He treated his people really well. We were in Madison Square Garden with thousands of people, and they all knew who he was, and that’s where he took like, he gave every single one of those people a little moment, a little piece of himself. I think that’s something I’d aspire to do. I just want to work with people who are going to keep teaching me kind of like this one.”
Chris was asked if he bonded with his co-star Cobie Smulders on the fact that they’ve both done movies on the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
“I tried to,” Pratt jokes, “I tried to, but she’s ice cold. It’s funny. It is true. I feel like we’re seeing a lot of each other. I think it is strange. We’ve been intersecting a lot, but I think that happens a lot. It’s really weird. I think it’s for everybody who’s doing this.”
“It’s a bit of a circus, isn’t it?” he adds, “I mean, like all of a sudden you show up and you’re all in town together. And then you depart and you might never see each other again. It’s a weird thing, but I feel that with both these guys I had a good time, and I hope to pull into town and do my tricks and my faces with them again.
Pratt was asked about how many takes it was in a particular scene with Vaughn’s character where one of his kids keeps smacking him in the face on a sandbox.
“It was more than one,” Chris says, “I feel like we did that a few times. I remember them backing it up to like before she slapped me, and it was really cold out. I was like, ‘I think we got it. I think we got it.’ It was hard. That little girl is a star. Those kids are all amazing, but that little girl in particular is such a special kid. I mean she was just so confident. I remember one time saying to her, ‘How do you feel? Do you want to run lines?’ And she said, ‘I’m good.’ I can just see her.
“I think she’s six or seven,” he continues, “Maybe six, but all those kids were just really fantastic, and I think we had to — I mean I think I broke a couple of times because she was just great. She was great. Those kids were just terrific. They were great kids.
Chris talks about what he reflected from his own parents in the portrayal of his character.
“Oh, my dad is a big man, and I remember as a kid always wondering why the hell does he tie his robe above his belly,” Pratt says, “Like what is the deal with tying it up here on top of his belly when most people would tie it like at their waistline? And I realized after being big in this movie and wearing a robe that was probably designed for like Cobie or something that that’s just where the tie is.”
“And when you have a big belly, you have to tie it above there,” he continues, “So I saw myself in my dressing room wearing that robe with the tie tied where it falls naturally on top of my belly. I thought to myself, ‘Oh, my God, I just became my dad.’”
Original post: Chris Pratt Interview for Delivery Man