Best referred to as the lovably dim Andy Dwyer on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, it was the lead function in Guardians of the Galaxy that turned Chris Pratt into a full-blown super star. Aside from his change from wacky partner to charming leading guy, Pratt went through a headline-making physical change to lead the rag-tag group of area misfits as Peter Quill.
“For me it felt like a perfect fit right off the bat. I felt like at my very first audition that I nailed it, but, I was afraid that I wasn’t physically right for it because I was still pretty big,” Pratt confessed to The Huffington Post. “I mean, I knew he had my spirit—I knew that my spirit was right. And I knew it sounded right, I just didn’t look right yet.”
And director James Gunn at the time sort of agreed, confessing, “I didn’t even want to see Chris at first. He was overweight at the time, and he seemed like a comedy guy, and he didn’t think he was the right person for the role. But he came in, and he was doing his audition, and 20 seconds into his audition I’m like, ‘That’s the guy.'”
Still, Pratt went on to lose 60 pounds in 6 months, hilariously recording the journey on Instagram (“Six months no beer. #GOTG Kinda douchy to post this but my brother made me” was the caption for one shirtless fitness center picture) and ultimately landing unlimited publication covers and headings promoting his excellent brand-new body.
“He’s a hilariously frumpy, doofy man in Parks and Rec, and he’s an exceptionally kickass ripped man in Zero Dark Thirty which’s quite incredible,” Feige stated after the unanticipated casting news was formally revealed. “He’s going to require that in Guardians. That’s a huge variety right there.”
Little did Pratt understand back in the audition procedure that the Marvel group was looking method down the line, with Feige revealing, “We always cast for the movie we’re making, but we also have an eye on the future. So when we were casting Chris Pratt, we needed the best Star-Lord, but at the same time, we said, ‘We need somebody who one day might go toe to toe with Robert Downey Jr.'” (Which they carried out in Infinity War.)
While it’s tough to think of anybody besides Pratt and his simple and easy appeal and swagger playing Peter, Marvel had actually thought about Eddie Redmayne, Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lee Pace for the function, with Pace winding up handling the function of bad guy Ronan the Accuser. But the No. 1 competitor after Pratt appeared to be an It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star: Glenn Howerton.
