Star Lord Chris Pratt Talks Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

By: Lynn Barker

In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Star Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is on a quest to find his real dad, played by Kurt Russell. Of course, the Galaxy needs saving again along the way and Star Lord is still hot for the sexy, green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana) although they continue, in true life style, to bicker like enemies.

In the film, the Guardians bond as a family more than ever despite their disagreements. What does Chris Pratt think about the family theme? Did being a dad himself help him “get” the relationship of dad/son in the movie and how was working with actor Kurt Russell who plays his father? On another issue, does he think being shirtless in the film exploits him as an actor or is this sort of exposure only a problem for female actors? Check it out!

Q: This movie has a searching for family theme, trying to belong. Was there a moment when you felt like that?

• Chris: This is very much a family movie. I think it’s really universal because I don’t think there’s anybody who hasn’t felt like that at some point in their life. I think it’s really natural to feel that. I mean I haven’t. I’ve always fit in my whole life (rolls his eyes…he’s kidding).

Q: The theme of fatherhood was touching. Chris did you bring anything from being a father yourself to this film (Chris and actress wife Anna Faris have a 4-year-old son Jack)?

• Chris: Not so much in my relationship as a child to a parent but as a parent to a child I got to be that with Baby Groot who is a very lifelike and adorable and vulnerable little guy. When he climbs up on Quill’s lap at the end and asks for the music, I’m listening to the song and reflecting upon the relationship I had with the man who raised me.
• It’s in that moment I realized that I now have gotten to the chapter in my life where I am the one who is going to be raising somebody and I’m going to have to make some choices on how I’m going to be and what I (will and won’t) take with me because that is how I was raised. I think that is the journey that every parent will take when they have a kid. I think Quill kind of gets to that at the end.  I do have to think about how strong Groot becomes. When he’s a teenager, he can beat the crap out of me! I think he’s going to steal the whole movie.

Q: How was it being on set with Kurt Russell and having him be your dad?

• Chris: He was a nightmare! No! There’s this thing that happens. You promise yourself you are not going to do this. Every time you meet someone who is an icon, someone that you’ve known way longer than they’ve ever known you, you’ve seen all their stuff and you have this opportunity from time to time, if you’re lucky, to work with someone like Kurt Russell, you promise yourself you’re not going to do the thing where you geek out. But, it’s a little inauthentic if you don’t. Because if you just go in there and you’re like “Kurt, hey, nice to meet you. I’m Chris” and you don’t acknowledge the fact of how much I love him and the fan I am, if you don’t get that out of the way then it feels a little inauthentic so I think I did that immediately.

Q: How did you progress as fellow actors from there?

• Chris: Well, it doesn’t really take that long to tell someone that you really love them and really respect their work and for them to go “Yeah, thanks” and that’s it. From that point, you move forward and there’s this really cool thing that is probably the one thing I never would have imagined looking for when I first moved to Hollywood but the biggest secret is that you become somebody’s friend and peer rather than a fan and that’s really nice. I think Kurt and I have become friends. We connected on a lot of things outside of just the movie. I have his cellphone number and I’ll give it to you (laughter).

Q: We see some shirtless scenes in the movie. Do you think there is a double standard for objectifying male actors versus female? Does that help or hurt your career?

• Chris: It hasn’t hurt my career. We are objects. It’s true. We’re props. They shine a light on us, paint us up with make-up and take a camera and point it at us and half the time what ruins it is us talking so we’re props in a way. As a man I can say that but I have to be careful because for millennia women have been objectified in a way that has a pretty horrifying past around it.
• I don’t know if you would call it a double standard but you have to deal with them separately because there is a history of objectification that is a sensitive issue. I think objectification is good for me because when I turn my body into something that people like, I get paid a lot of money and my kid can go to college because I’m an object. But, you have to be a little sensitive about because there are a lot more great roles classically written for men than there have been for women.

See Chris in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in theaters now!

 

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What kind of a parent do you think you will be some day? Are you a fan of the “Guardians” movies and Chris? Comment below!