While “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” crosses the billion-dollar mark this weekend at the global box office, another big Chris Pratt film is heading to theaters next week with “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3” wrapping up a trilogy from writer/director James Gun. Pratt wasn’t always successful in the audition process and is reflecting on the multitude of high-profile roles he missed out on before landing Marvel’s Peter Quill, aka, Star-Lord.
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During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the actor revealed that he nearly swore off Marvel auditions before getting “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” after several tryouts went south, including one for “Thor” which Pratt alluded was for Fandral The Dashing from The Warriors Three that ended up going to Joshua Dallas before Zachary Levi was recast for sequels “Thor: The Dark World” and “Thor: Ragnarok.”
“I auditioned for them all. I had a rough run with Marvel,” Pratt revealed. “I auditioned for ‘Thor,’ but not even to be Thor — but to be one of the sidekick guys, and I didn’t get a callback. Usually, they give you a little bit of feedback, and I remember the casting director goes, ‘Wow. You really made a big choice there.’ Which is code for like: ‘Hey, dial back the acting there, guy.’”
Pratt continued, “It got to the point where I was never gonna audition for Marvel again. I was like, ‘This is stupid; I’m never gonna be in a Marvel movie.’”
That wasn’t the only prominent role Pratt missed out on as he also mentioned failed auditions for James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Paramount’s “Star Trek” reboot from director J.J Abrams.
“And it was not only just Marvel things, but there have been a lot of heroic characters in various films… Not DC characters, but like, you know, ‘Star Trek’ or ‘Avatar,’” Pratt told Kimmel. “Anything that was like, ‘This guy walks in and he’s got the it-factor.’ Over and over again, I was like, ‘Well, I definitely don’t have that it-factor they’re looking for because they don’t even want me to come back.’”
If Pratt didn’t end up taking the ‘Guardians’ role, it would have gone to Gunn’s secondary choice Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”), who has worked with fellow MCU director Matt Shakman (“Fantastic Four,” “WandaVision”). Since then, Pratt has led a trilogy of “Jurassic World” movies earning Universal an impressive $3.9 billion, and is set to lead Sony’s upcoming “Garfield” reboot.
“Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3” debuts on May 5, and you can watch that full interview with Pratt on “Kimmel” below.