Chris Pratt Biography

Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. Pratt came to prominence with his television roles, for which he is best known for his role as Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation from 2009-15, 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.

His early film career began with supporting roles in such mainstream films as Wanted, Jennifer's Body, Moneyball, The Five-Year Engagement, Zero Dark Thirty, Delivery Man and Her.

Pratt achieved leading man status after starring in two commercially successful films in 2014: computer-animated adventure comedy The Lego Movie and Marvel Studios superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy (in which he portrayed Star-Lord).

In 2015, he starred in Jurassic World, the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and his most financially successful film to date, earning $1.6 billion at the box office. Later that year, Time named Pratt one of the 100 most influential people in the world on the annual Time 100 list.

Pratt continued his leading man status with The Magnificent Seven and Passengers. He reprised his role as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and will play the character again in Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel.

Early life

Christopher Michael Pratt was born on June 21, 1979 in Virginia, Minnesota, the youngest child of Kathleen Louise (ne Indahl), a Norwegian who worked at a Safeway supermarket, and Daniel Clifton Pratt (died in 2014 from multiple sclerosis), who worked in mining and later remodeling houses. He is of Norwegian descent. When Pratt was three years old, the family moved to Lake Stevens, Washington. Pratt later placed fifth in a high school state wrestling tournament, recalling that when his wrestling coach asked him what he wished to do with his life, "I was like, 'I don't know, but I know I'll be famous and I know I'll make a s- 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.

Career

2000-2012

At 19 years old, 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 cancellation, he joined the cast of The O.C. for its fourth season, playing activist Winchester "Ch" Cook. He also had an appearance in the 2008 action film Wanted.

Pratt read for the lead role of Captain James T. Kirk in the 2009 film Star Trek, and for Jake Sully in the 2009 film Avatar. The latter audition was particularly humbling for Pratt, who recalls: "They said they want somebody that has 'that thing', that 'it factor'. I walked into that room knowing that I did not have that thing, and I walked out thinking I would never have that thing, probably." Pratt resolved to rethink his career ambitions, commenting: "People have to work. I just don't want it to be at a f"?ing restaurant."

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.

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 , which Pratt attributed to the cooking of his then-girlfriend and now-wife, actress Anna Faris. Deciding to lose weight, he worked out continuously, regularly checking to see if the part was cast, losing a total of .

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 an entirely 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.

2013-present

In 2013, Pratt initially turned down the opportunity to play Peter Quill / Star-Lord in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy, explaining that he did not "want another Captain Kirk or Avatar moment". The film's casting director, Sarah Finn, suggested Pratt to director James Gunn, who had struggled to cast that role and dismissed the idea.

Despite this, Finn arranged for a meeting between the two, at which point Gunn was immediately 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.

Although Pratt had been known until that point for playing supporting characters, and was best known as his portly Parks and Recreation character, that changed in 2014 when he headlined two feature films, the first of which was The Lego Movie. The film became the third-highest-grossing film of 2014 in North America.

This was followed that August by Guardians of the Galaxy, which became the highest-grossing film of 2014 in North America, making Pratt the star of two of the top five highest-grossing films of that year. 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 March 2014, Pratt was awarded the CinemaCon Award for Breakthrough Performer. Also in 2014, he was ranked as #2 on People magazine's annual list of Sexiest Men Alive. Pratt was the featured cover story of the July 18 Entertainment Weekly, which documented the evolution of Pratt's physique over the course of the previous 12 years, going from for his role on Everwood to for Delivery Man, to for his roles in Zero Dark Thirty and Guardians. Pratt himself 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.

In November 2013, Pratt, an avid fan of Jurassic Park, who has referred to that film as "my Star Wars", replaced Josh Brolin as the lead in the film 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. He will reprise his role in the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which is scheduled to be released on June 22, 2018.

His next film role was starring as Josh Farraday, a gambler, in the remake of the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven. The film was released on September 23, 2016. Pratt's second 2016 release was Passengers, a science fiction film which opened in December, and co-starred Jennifer Lawrence. Pratt played a character described as "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 will also portray the character in Avengers: Infinity War in May 2018.

On April 21, 2017, Pratt received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements in motion pictures, located at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

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 on July 9, 2009. They live in Hollywood Hills, California. Their son, Jack, was born in August 2012. 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. He was raised Lutheran and later worked for Jews for Jesus, eventually becoming a non-denominational Christian.

On August 6, 2017, Pratt and Faris announced their legal separation.

Filmography

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
2008	Wanted	Barry
2009	Bride Wars	Fletcher Flemson
2009	Deep in the Valley	Lester Watts
2009	Jennifer's Body	Roman Duda
2009	The Multi-Hyphenate	Chris	Short film
2011	Take Me Home Tonight	Kyle Masterson
2011	Moneyball	Scott Hatteberg
2011	What's Your Number?	Disgusting Donald
2011	10 Years	Cully
2012	The Five-Year Engagement	Alex Eilhauer
2012	Zero Dark Thirty	Justin	Nominated"?Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2013	Movie 43	Doug	Segment: "The Proposition" Nominated"?Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Combo
2013	Mr. Payback	Darren	Short film
2013	Delivery Man	Brett
2013	Her	Paul
2014	The Lego Movie	Emmet Brickowski	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Voice
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	CinemaCon Award for Breakthrough Performer of the Year Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated"?Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated"?Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie Nominated"?Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Artist Nominated"?Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Action Star Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Hero Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Moment Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Shirtless Performance Nominated"?Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Acting Nominated"?Young Hollywood Award for Super Superhero
2015	Jurassic World	Owen Grady	MTV Movie Award for Best Action Performance Nominated"?Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie Nominated"?Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance Nominated"?People's Choice Award for Favorite Action Movie Actor Nominated"?People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star: Male
2015	Jem and the Holograms	Himself	Cameo
2016	The Magnificent Seven	Joshua Faraday	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: AnTEENcipated
2016	Passengers	Jim Preston	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Actor
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi
2018	Avengers: Infinity War	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	Post-Production
2018	Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom	Owen Grady	Post-Production
2019	Untitled Avengers film	Peter Quill / Star-Lord	Filming
2019	The Lego Movie Sequel	Emmet Brickowski	In-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Huntress	Nick Owens	Episode: "Who Are You?"
2002-06	Everwood	Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott	Main role, 89 episodes Nominated"?Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Sidekick
2005	Path of Destruction	Nathan McCain	Television film
2006-07	The O.C.	Winchester "Ch" Cook	Recurring role, 9 episodes
2008	The Batman	Jake	Episode: "Attack of the Terrible Trio"
2009-15	Parks and Recreation	Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer	Main role, 117 episodes Nominated"?Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
2010-11	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Cooper Daniels	2 episodes
2013	Timms Valley	Donovan Timms	TV Special
2014	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Episode: "Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande"
2017	Mom	Nick Banaszak	Episode: "Good Karma and the Big Weird"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction	Cooper Daniels
2012	Kinect Star Wars	Obi-Wan Kenobi
2014	The Lego Movie Videogame	Emmet Brickowski	Archive footage
2015	Lego Jurassic World	Owen Grady
2015	Lego Dimensions	Emmet Brickowski / Owen Grady