Chris Pratt Says He Turned Down ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy' At First, Auditioned For 'Star Trek' & 'Avatar'

Guardians Of The GalaxyIt’s interesting how a career can evolve so quickly. There’s been fan chatter on the Internet calling for Chris Pratt to play the new Indiana Jones, but things were very different for the actor a few years ago.

He evidently auditioned for the roles of Jake Sully in “Avatar” and Captain Kirk in the reboot of “Star Trek” and was turned down for both. In the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, Pratt explained, “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 … I figured, I’ll find a way to make money and if that means I’m playing character roles, that’s terrific. People have to work. I just don’t want it to be at a f—ing restaurant.”

And even 18 months ago or so when the former schlubby, now ripped “Parks and Recreation” star was cast in the lead of “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and then “Jurassic Park 4,” aka “Jurassic World,” some audiences went, “that guy?” And Pratt may have had the same reservations at first. In the magazine, the actor told EW that he initially turned down the offer to star in “Guardians Of The Galaxy.” “I was probably scared,” he said. “And thought I was too fat to play a super hero. I didn’t want another Captain Kirk or ‘Avatar’ moment.”

Self-doubt was definitely a factor, because not only did he audition for these kinds of roles in the past, he said he was a huge action movie fan and described “Jurassic Park” as “my ‘Star Wars.’” Even director James Gunn (who recently revealed that Joss Whedon helped him cast Josh Brolin as Thanos) admitted he hated the idea of Pratt in the lead at first. “That’s the chubby guy from ‘Parks And Rec—you’ve got to be kidding,” he told the mag. “Eventually he came in and I knew within 20, 30 seconds he was the guy.”

The rest is history and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” is right around the corner with an August 1st release—perhaps Marvel’s first big test if they can base a movie off a comic book property no one outside of hardcore comic book fans know. Meanwhile, the marketing is hitting a full court press in the lead up to release. New photos, TV spots and featurettes and more. Oh and the recently announced soundtrack album? It’s getting a deluxe version with three albums for some reason. You can play it on repeat starting on July 29th.

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