While Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt frequently stole the show in Parks and Recreation, the actor didn't exactly appear to be what many would consider "leading man" material. However, after being cast in Zero Dark Thirty, Pratt underwent a physical transformation that broke the internet and suddenly put him on the radar of major studios.
That's seemingly the power of a six-pack in Hollywood, and while there was never a real reason why Pratt shouldn't have been considered for big roles, losing that weight and getting fit helped transform the actor into an action star.
During an interview with Smartless (via SFFGazette.com), the Jurassic World Dominion star explains why a lack of self-confidence may have been his biggest issue for a time. As a result, Pratt ended up dropping the ball during auditions for both the Star Trek reboot and James Cameron's Avatar.
"I know I’ve made light of actors feeling rejection or whatever, but I didn’t come close [to getting the role]. In fact, I came, it was so not close that it was really demoralizing and made me actually truly question my potential or what I should be aiming for as an actor. For both of those," Pratt remembers. "I remember that the role was written like ‘He comes in,’ it was maybe the Avatar."
"I just remember reading this character description and it was like ‘he walks in and he has the it factor.’ So I was feeling, you know, a little bit overweight, I wasn’t really taking care of myself physically, I was in a relationship where we were, you know, drinking a lot," the actor continued. "I walked in, and I started sweating immediately, and it was a casting assistant. She just looked at me and she just pressed record and she just started doing her stuff while I was reading with her other casting assistant. I saw that there was literally nothing about my audition that was compelling at all."
While Pratt would miss out on those roles, he's since become the face of multiple franchises, including those we've mentioned above and the likes of The Tomorrow War and The Terminal List. After recently starring in the final chapter of the Jurassic World trilogy, the actor has The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on the horizon.
Would you have liked to see Pratt in movies like Star Trek and Avatar?