The Untold Truth Of Chris Pratt

During his 20-year career, Chris Pratt has come to exemplify the charismatic and affable leading man persona of a Hollywood star. Although Pratt is best known for his role as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, he has a number of other memorable leading and supporting roles to his credit where the actor has made ample use of his gift for comedy.

Before becoming a Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero, Pratt was best known as the schlubby and lovable Andy Dwyer from "Parks and Recreation." On the side, Pratt was also taking on increasingly prominent roles in movies, from a bit part as James McAvoy's annoying best friend in "Wanted" to playing a Navy SEAL in "Zero Dark Thirty." 

Pratt's versatility and hard work were noticed, and he soon became one of the film industry's premier leading men, joining an elite group of "Hollywood Chrises" that have ruled the box office the past decade. Although today Chris Pratt has his choice of leading men roles, the road to getting to that point was a long and rocky one. Here are 14 instances from that journey that even die-hard fans might not know.  

When Chris Pratt debuted his buff look as Star-Lord in the MCU, fans expressed shock at the actor's change in appearance. The fact that Pratt was able to transform his body from the chubby Andy Dwyer to superhero Peter Quill earned him a great deal of praise.

That transformation was easier than one might expect for Pratt to pull off. The actor was an athlete in school and was lean and muscular before being cast as Andy on "Parks and Recreation." In fact, before getting his break in Hollywood, Pratt used his rockin' physique to work as a male stripper.   

"I was always a very much naked person," Pratt explained to Buzzfeed about his stripping days. "I loved to always get naked. I was very free, so I thought, I may as well get paid." While Pratt looked good enough to get paid to take his clothes off in front of a crowd, the actor also admits he was not able to make the cut as an exotic dancer à la "Magic Mike." He told the outlet: "I did go one time and audition on a stage for a club, but I don't think I got the job. I don't think I'm a very good dancer."

In 2014, Chris Pratt took to Twitter to post the very first headshot he got as a 20-something actor looking for work in Hollywood. Pratt dubbed his headshot "Douchemaster McChest," and with good reason. The picture looks like it belongs on the cover of a steamy romance novel, with Pratt's massive curls obscuring much of his forehead while his unbuttoned shirt reveals a hint of the actor's chest.

The story behind the headshot is as strange as the picture itself, as Pratt revealed to Jimmy Fallon. "I knew I needed a headshot and I was in an area of LA called West Hollywood," the actor explained. "A predominantly gay area, a really kind of fabulous place. I was at the post office and there was a guy who was really kind of looking at me for a long time."

The man staring at Pratt turned out to be a photographer who randomly asked if the aspiring actor wanted his picture taken. Not only did Pratt go to the stranger's house to get his picture taken, but he also used the photographer's shower and wore one of his shirts for the headshot. To this day, Pratt remains grateful to the photographer for the headshots. "He was a good guy. So if you're watching, dude, if you remember, thank you. That got me on The WB. That got me 'Everwood.'"

Hollywood is filled with tales of female actors walking around LA and being scooped up by talent agents based on their looks alone. Something similar happened to Chris Pratt when he was working as a waiter at Bubba Gump Shrimp. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pratt revealed it was a chance meeting with actress Rae Dawn Chong while waiting on her table at Bubba Gump Shrimp that gave him his first acting break. Chong was best known for her leading role in "Commando" opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and for being the daughter of stoner-comedian Tommy Chong. "She was with her producing partner," Pratt explained.

It turned out Chong was producing a horror-comedy called "Cursed Part 3." Deeming Pratt "cute," Chong auditioned him for the lead role, which the fresh-faced actor managed to land. The film itself did little to advance Pratt's career, with the actor himself dubbing it, "the worst movie I'd ever seen." But it played an important role, nevertheless, since according to Pratt, "The whole reason that movie came along was just so I could be brought to Hollywood." 

Method actors are often praised for putting on weight for a dramatic role, like Christian Bale for "Vice" or Jared Leto for "Chapter 27." Chris Pratt underwent a similar journey, but for the sake of comedy roles, as the actor explained during a Reddit AMA. 

When a fan asked Pratt about his past as an overweight comedic actor, the actor explained that putting on weight actually helped him land better roles. "I was confident and in good shape when I first came to LA, but nobody would cast me in any well-written roles," Pratt wrote. "People assumed based on my looks I was an a**hole and a one-trick pony. I only auditioned to play the douchebag characters."

Pratt found this sort of typecasting limiting to his career. When he was cast as Andy Dwyer for "Parks and Recreation," the actor choose to put on weight for the role while also imbuing his character with inner confidence. With this combination, Pratt was finally able to give free rein to his abilities as a performer, explaining, "They never let me improv or do comedy [for the jerk roles]. It wasn't until I built a schlubby exterior, which stood in stark contrast to my inner confidence that people gave me room to play."

Chris Pratt came into his role as Andy Dwyer on "Parks and Recreation" hungry to prove that he could play a more complex character than a one-note loser. Pratt was willing to go to any lengths to mine the comedic depths of Andy, even if it required getting unexpectedly naked in front of the star of the show, Amy Poehler.  

Pratt related the incident on an episode of The Graham Norton Show. According to the actor, he was shooting a scene for "Parks and Recreation" in which Poehler's character goes to open a door and finds a very naked Andy standing outside. In reality, Pratt was wearing flesh-colored underwear for the scene. The actor felt that Poehler's reaction to seeing Andy in his birthday suit was not suitably shocked.

For one take, Pratt took off the flesh-colored underwear. Sure enough, Poehler's reaction to an unexpected and completely nude Pratt was comedy gold, and her reaction was okayed for the scene. Pratt revealed he later received a stern letter from NBC forbidding him from pulling a stunt like that again.  

Chris Pratt made his name in Hollywood playing the goofy and overweight Andy Dwyer in "Parks and Recreation." The role helped Pratt escape being typecast as a creep early in his career, but it also almost cost him the role of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

When filmmaker James Gunn was casting lead roles for "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1," he auditioned many actors for Star-Lord, but none felt perfectly suited to the role. Casting director Sarah Finn suggested Gunn audition Chris Pratt. Gunn's response was a definite "No" based on the actor's past work. 

Gunn explained his take on the matter in response to a fan on Instagram (via Republic TV). "I saw him (on 'Parks and Recreation') and thought he was funny but didn't think he was right for the part so our casting director Sarah had to talk me into even auditioning him." Fortunately, Gunn's initial skepticism completely disappeared within moments of seeing Pratt's audition, and the filmmaker knew he had finally found his Star-Lord.

Director James Gunn had grave doubts about Chris Pratt being able to play the role of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, but Pratt also shared those same doubts, so much so that he was initially resistant to the idea of auditioning for the part. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pratt admitted he did not think he was the right person to play Star-Lord. "When they announced [the film], I looked it up and saw a list of the top 20 dudes in Hollywood who might play Peter Quill," the actor explained. "I was not on that list. I did not want to go in and embarrass myself. My agent said, 'Guardians is everything you've been saying you want to do.' I said, 'F**k, you're right.' But I'm going to go in there and do exactly what I mean by action comedy. My brand of stuff. Brash. Honest. I played the room."

The gamble worked. Pratt nailed the very first audition he gave as Star-Lord in front of Gunn. After innumerable auditions, Gunn had finally found the perfect actor to embody the action-comedy sensibility he was looking for in his take on Peter Quill. Pratt was hired for his first major leading role in a big-budget film, and the rest is MCU history. 

Marvel Studios is generally quite strict about keeping props and costumes with the production team rather than letting the actors take whatever memorabilia they want home. Following in Star-Lord's footsteps as a kind-hearted thief, Chris Pratt stole his character's iconic red jacket from the set of "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1" for the best of reasons. 

In an interview with Panzer TV, Pratt explained that he wanted to keep the jacket because he someday hoped to personally wear it in front of his young fans. "I stole the jacket and some of the wardrobe so that, if this movie comes out and does what everyone hopes it can, I can follow the example of someone — say, like, a Russell Wilson — and go visit kids. If it was a big enough movie to where it would mean something to a kid who's sick in the hospital for Peter Quill or Star-Lord to come visit them, I'll do that." 

After his movie became a smash hit, Pratt made good on his promise by visiting sick children while dressed as Star-Lord. As Pratt has grown into his role as an A-list Hollywood leading man, the actor continues to visit hospitals whenever possible for some heartwarming meetings. 

After making his mark in the MCU with the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, filmmaker James Gunn has moved on to the DCEU by helming "The Suicide Squad." Despite some fans interpreting this move as Gunn working with the "competition," there is clearly no ill will between Gunn and his MCU pals over the move, so much so "The Suicide Squad" features a Chris Pratt reference that the actor himself approved.

"The Suicide Squad" features a character named Ratcatcher 2, who has the power to control rats. Naturally, this required the use of a few rat extras, or a "couple dozen," according to James Gunn. The filmmaker explained to EW that the film made use of two main rats, one of which was named "Jaws" and the other "Crisp Ratt." 

"I had to text Chris (Pratt) the other day to be like, 'We're putting the credits together and one of our rats is named Crisp Ratt," Gunn explained. "This of course is meant as a compliment to you. But I just want to make sure that you're cool with that, that I put this rat's name in the credits.' He thought it was hilarious."

In the modern age of movie publicity, stars are expected to partake in all manner of strange activities and challenges that are uploaded on social media. Chris Pratt has always shown himself to be a natural at such events, so much so that he briefly held a record for a challenge that involved not blinking.

During a round of promotions for "Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom" on the Spanish TV show "El Hormiguero," Pratt was challenged to keep his eyes open without blinking for as long as possible. The actor was happy to comply, and he managed to beat the previous record for the game set by Ryan Reynolds for 2 minutes and 37 seconds. 

Pratt kept himself from blinking for 6 minutes and 2 seconds. Reynolds has not publicly commented on Pratt taking his no-blinking crown, but the two Marvel leading men have traded barbs in the past regarding their Fantasy Football teams. 

The MCU is filled with big men with large muscles, but most of that muscle is for show. Not so with Dave Bautista, the former wrestler-turned-actor who shot to fame in the role of Drax the Destroyer in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise alongside Chris Pratt. Pratt and Bautista are friends in real life, but that did not stop Pratt from challenging Bautista to a wrestling match while in a drug-induced haze.

In an interview with James Corden, Pratt explained he used to take sleeping aids like Ambien to fall asleep. While under the spell of the drug, Pratt had a habit of texting random people and forgetting about it the next day. After one such incident, Bautista informed him the next day he had received Pratt's message. "I look at my phone, it's a text like this long," Pratt explained. "'Dave, I wanna wrestle. I wanna wrestle you, no one needs to know, but I just wanna know. I think I could take you. I think I could wrestle you, bro. Like, collegiate rules, no elbows no knees, I just want — I wanna feel the power!'"   

Fortunately, Bautista's reaction was to simply laugh long and hard. Once he came back to his senses, Pratt had no problem admitting a fight with the former wrestler would not end well for him. "Dave would kill me! He is by far the toughest dude in all of Hollywood," he told Corden.

In 2010, Chris Pratt was finally beginning to make a name for himself in the role of Andy Dwyer in "Parks and Recreation." Although the role was well-received, no one could have imagined the guy playing overweight goofball Andy would one day become a leading action star. No one except Chris Pratt, it seems. 

Pratt was well-known for his ability to improvise jokes without breaking character on "Parks and Recreation." While recording a behind-the-scenes video extra for the show's DVD version, Pratt goes off on a comedic tangent where he pretends to get a very important phone call. "Man, I just got a text message," Pratt says with a resigned sigh (via Deadline). "From Steven Spielberg. God, so annoying. I'll have to get back to you later about 'Jurassic Park 4.' Boom."

Of course, fans know Pratt did indeed get the call five years later when he was cast in the lead role for "Jurassic World." Was this a case of a wild joke improbably coming true, or did Pratt literally will the role into existence for himself? 

The ulta-rich amongst Hollywood A-listers are almost required to have some strange obsession or another to add to their mystique. In the case of Chris Pratt, his strange obsession actually began before he made it big in Hollywood. That obsession was a desire to collect bugs of every shape and size.

Even more improbably, Pratt went on to discover that his insect interests aligned with those of his future wife, Anna Faris, when the two first started dating. "I had a bug collection," Faris explained once to James Corden (via HuffPost). "When Chris and I first started dating, he invited me over to his apartment and he had, also, a dead bug collection."

Another time that Pratt's bug interests got public attention was when James Gunn uploaded a video on Twitter in which Pratt can be seen holding up an insect. "People call these crane flies," Pratt explains to the camera. "They call them mosquito-eaters. I call them lunch." The actor then proceeds to put the insect in his mouth and chew down with the camera zooming in to confirm he had indeed eaten the bug.  

Over a long career, Chris Pratt has played everything from a jerk to a happy-go-lucky loser to a cowboy to a superhero. There is still one role left that the actor wants to play — a cop. But Pratt does not just want to play a cop in any movie that comes his way. 

In an interview with WSVN's Chris Van Vliet, Pratt revealed he has his heart set on playing an officer of the law. "I've always wanted to play a cop," the actor explained. "I've had the opportunity to, but I haven't taken it, because I take it really seriously and I think there is only one chance to do it for the first time. So I've passed up on a few opportunities to, but at some point, I will play a cop."

According to Pratt, the cop roles that he has been offered so far have failed to line up with his expectations from the part, not just in terms of the character itself, but the message surrounding the role. "It has to be the right film, the right character, the right message, the right portrayal," he said. "I think that's important to me." 

2023 has been a huge year for Chris Pratt, with his two lead roles in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" both dominating at the box office. With the historic track record of video game movie adaptations being so poor, bringing Mario to the silver screen for the second time was certainly a gamble, but one that paid dividends. The animated film easily crossed the $1 billion threshold at the worldwide box office, and a sequel is all but guaranteed.

A "Super Mario Bros. 2" is almost certainly coming in the near future, but just one sequel wouldn't be enough for Pratt. When speaking to IGN, Pratt said, "Get ready for a lot of these movies." He confirmed that the post-credits scene is meant to set up the future of the burgeoning movie franchise. Pratt also described the first potential spin-off as being an adaptation of the game "Luigi's Mansion," which is a solo adventure that pits the taller brother against ghosts. With such rich Nintendo lore and so many characters and interconnected series to pull from, it sounds like Illumination may take a shared universe approach in further developing the franchise. With his roles in the MCU, the "Jurassic World" franchise, the "Lego Movie" series, and now "Super Mario Bros," Pratt might be the new king of sequels in Hollywood.

The next chapter in the long-running "Indiana Jones" saga is slated for a 2023 release with "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," but the iconic character was making headlines the year prior for a completely different reason. With beloved movie characters rarely ever getting the chance to retire with dignity, there has been much speculation about who could take over the role from Harrison Ford for future sequels, prequels, or reboots. Much of this talk swirled around Chris Pratt, who seemed poised as the top pick to lead the franchise — but it was not to be.

When Harrison Ford was asked who should take over the role while on The Today Show, he said, "Nobody is gonna be Indiana Jones, don't you get it? I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone." Ford even addressed the casting rumors and shut down Chris Pratt, though he mixed him up with Chris Pine, one of the other Hollywood Chrises. Pratt got the message and said he wouldn't be playing the iconic character. Since Harrison Ford doesn't hold the rights to the character himself, it's always possible for a money-hungry studio to disregard his stance and recast the role anyway, but Pratt seems to have taken himself out of the running altogether. Even after Ford's passing, Pratt has said that he still wouldn't take over the role, because he's afraid of Ford's ghost coming back to haunt him.

Not many actors can say that they're part of an amusement park ride. Fewer can truthfully claim to be a feature of rides at four different theme parks, but Chris Pratt can. As both Peter Quill in the MCU and Owen Grady in the "Jurassic World" series, Pratt is the star of massive properties owned by both Disney and Universal.

As Owen Grady, Pratt is a part of the "Jurassic World VelociCoaster" at Universals Islands of Adventure in Florida and "Jurassic World: The Ride" at Universal Studios Hollywood. As Star-Lord, Pratt is featured in the "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind" ride at Epcot in Florida and "Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout" at Disneyland's California Adventure Park. Pratt and his co-stars appear in pre-recorded videos and audio recordings that lend a thin sense of narrative to the theme park attractions. "Mission: Breakout" is the most story-driven of the bunch and centers around a rescue mission led by Rocket Raccoon, complete with flashy special effects, a soundtrack reminiscent of the movie's "Awesome Mix" soundtracks, and multiple different endings to keep repeat visits fresh.

Before Chris Pratt was married to Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he was previously married to actor Anna Faris. Together, the couple participated in a great deal of charity work, with much of it inspired by their son Jack. Born two months premature, Jack suffered from severe brain bleeding, muscle and eyesight issues, and was at risk of developmental disabilities.

After going through this tough experience as a family, Faris and Pratt got involved in helping others who had to go through the same thing. Faris has vocally supported The Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth and helped to raise awareness about their cause and treatments. Together, Frais and Pratt have donated well over $1 million to organizations like March of Dimes, the LA Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit, and a charity that focuses on providing eyeglasses to underprivileged children.

A couple of years later, Pratt donated $500,000 to a youth center named after his father in his hometown. After divorcing from Faris, Pratt co-founded the charity Feed Thy Neighbor to help fight hunger amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. He personally donated $100,000 to the campaign and helped raise a total of around $650,000, which was split by a variety of food banks.

It should come as no surprise that Chris Pratt is a magnet for box office gold, but you might not have realized that he is one of the single most profitable actors ever. His participation in the $1 billion "Jurassic World" and MCU movies is already enough to earn him a spot on the list, and his involvement in other highly profitable movies like "Passengers," "The Lego Movie," and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" seal the deal.

The total box office revenue generated by Chris Pratt's starring-role movies has surpassed $4.3 billion. It is important to note that this statistic only takes the domestic box office into account; the figures are significantly higher when looking at the worldwide box office numbers. This massive box office pull has earned Pratt the number seven spot on the rundown of the highest-grossing Hollywood actors of all time.

Pratt may have been dubbed the worst Hollywood Chris writ large, but he has proven to be the most profitable. Pratt landed three spots above Chris Evans on the all-time earner list and one spot above Chris Hemsworth. The only stars who have brought in more money at the domestic box office than Pratt are Zoe Saldaña, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., and the all-time highest-grosser by quite some margin, Samuel L. Jackson.

Chris Pratt's most divisive hobby is undoubtedly hunting. When he posted (and later deleted) a video to Instagram about his hunting habits, some of his fans were dismayed to learn about this side of the actor. This wasn't something Pratt did on a whim, as hunting has been a major part of his life for many years. In a 2012 interview with Outdoor Life, Pratt said that he is "absolutely obsessed" with big game hunting and has been ever since 2003. For a point of reference, "big game hunting" often refers to the sport hunting of large, sometimes endangered animals like elephants, lions, and cheetahs, but can also refer to more common, non-endangered animals like moose and elk.

Pratt told Outdoor Life that he views hunting as a fun sport, not as a means for survival and nourishment. Sometimes he eats the meat, other times he doesn't. He said, "My passion for hunting is not simply the result of a need to feed myself. There's grocery stores for that! I'm not eating groundhog or coyote! Sometimes people don't understand and I don't waste my breath trying to explain it ... We just disagree and move on." Hunting with firearms is one thing, but Pratt has also described hunting with spears and bows, which the Animal Rights Coalition has labeled as cruel, inhumane, and wasteful. In his deleted Instagram post, Pratt said that he was looking forward to hurting the animals that he was going to be hunting, and his general love of sport hunting drew fire from the non-profit organization The Anti-Fur Society.

Hunting isn't Chris Pratt's only hobby involving animals. When he isn't busy shooting a movie, Pratt divides his time between his home in Los Angeles and a farm named Stillwater Ranch that he owns and helps run in Washington, his home state. The farm is home to pigs, sheep, rams, goats, and more. Though there are some exceptions, many of the animals are eventually killed for meat. Pratt has said that the meat produced by the farm is only for family and friends, but that he has plans to potentially begin selling it to his fans in the future.

In addition to the food, Stillwater Ranch also produces wool and fleece collected from its sheep. Pratt's fleece earned the blue ribbon at Fiber Palooza, an event held by Washington State University as part of their Country Living Expo. Pratt's animal slaughter habits drew some backlash from his fans on social media. Pratt defended the slaughtering, saying his methods are humane and that his animals live happy lives, but some of his phrasing regarding the animals can easily be read as insensitive. Some of his most questionable comments on this topic include equating killing a sheep to unplugging a television and saying that his lambs are happy and sweet until they suddenly wake up dead in his freezer.

Chris Pratt's breakout role was as Andy Dwyer on the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation." One of Andy's defining character traits was his involvement in a band that constantly changed its name, but was most commonly known as Mouse Rat. This fictional band was a recurring joke throughout pretty much the entirety of the show's seven-season run. Within the series, Mouse Rat occasionally performed original songs, such as "5,000 Candles in the Wind (Bye Bye Li'l Sebastian)" dedicated to the beloved Pawnee pony, or "The Pit" about the time Andy fell into the pit.

Over time, this fictional band accrued enough real songs to compile a full album. "5,000 Candles in the Wind" was the first track released as a single, with Mouse Rat later expanding their output to a 16-track LP, though a couple of the tracks are well under a minute long. The album is titled "The Awesome Album" and features the aforementioned songs from the show along with others like "Two Birds Holding Hands," "Sex Hair," and "Catch Your Dream feat. Duke Silver." "The Awesome Album" was released digitally as well as on CD, cassette, and vinyl in 2021 on the 10^th anniversary of the death of Li'l Sebastian.

Chris Pratt has unexpectedly become one of the most prominent faces of Christianity in Hollywood. Despite telling Men's Health, "I'm not a religious person" in 2022, Pratt has been extremely vocal about his belief in Christianity. Being outspoken about his religion has rubbed some of his fans the wrong way, while also bringing in a whole new segment of Christian fans who may be indifferent towards his movies but praise his beliefs.

Pratt had no remorse for his religious views, instead doubling down on his vocal support of Christianity. When Page Six asked him about those who take issue with his beliefs, Pratt responded by quoting the Bible. He said "If I was of this world, they would love me just like that but as it is, I've chosen out of this world. That's John 15:18 through 20." He then seemingly compared himself to Jesus by saying, "That's the way it is, nothing new, 2,000 years ago they hated him, too." Pratt's religion-forward personality combined with other traits like his love of hunting and avid support of guns and the military has led to him being embraced by reactionary right-wing commentators, spurring cringe-inducing partisan discourse over whether "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is "woke" or not because of his involvement. Religion is also believed to be at least partially responsible for his divorce from Anna Faris, who is not particularly religious. Meanwhile, his second wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, is a devoted Christian – she and Pratt even met for the first time in church.

Chris Pratt was raised Lutheran but wasn't really a believer in religion throughout his youth –he was 19 when he decided to devote himself to Christianity. As he recounted to Esquire, shortly before he started his acting career, Pratt was approached by a religious stranger whom he found "strangely charismatic" and who managed to quickly convert him to Christianity, with Pratt adding, "I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days." This stranger happened to be from the controversial Jews for Jesus organization, and he recruited Pratt to work for them.

The name or the organization can be a bit confusing, but Jews for Jesus is a Christian missionary group that underhandedly masquerades as a Jewish organization with the intention of converting Jewish people to Christianity. The group has been the subject of much ire from the actual Jewish community, who have long denounced their practices since their formation in 1973. Jews for Jesus falls under the umbrella of Messianic Judaism, which received a profile boost during the Trump presidency when Vice President Mike Pence embraced the group as a subtler form of evangelical Christianity. At one infamous event, Pence brought up a prominent Messianic rabbi to speak in the wake of a mass shooting at a synagogue, but the victims were ignored and the Messianic rabbi instead promoted Republican political candidates. As reported by Vox, the executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America said, "So-called Messianic Jews are not a part of the Jewish community, and espouse views considered deeply offensive." Pratt no longer works for Jews for Jesus, but does credit them as being instrumental to his life and career.

Chris Pratt underwent a major physique transformation between his time on "Parks and Recreation" and his career as a Hollywood action star. Alongside working out, Pratt credits a particular crash diet with helping him lose weight. The diet is called the Daniel Fast and stems from a hardcore basis in Christianity.

The short-term crash diet takes its name and its included foods from the biblical story of Daniel, and is intended to last for 10, 21, or 40 days at a time. The diet was created by Susan Gregory, who has no background in health or nutrition but says that God told her to create the diet. The Daniel Fast program is specifically designed for "followers of Christ" only and costs $27 to start, which includes recipes, video lessons, and Christian devotions. The diet is not only meant to help you lose weight but also to deepen your connection to Jesus through guided prayer and other religious exercises. The Daniel Fast is fulfilled through the company Faith Driven Life, which also sells other Christian programs, courses, and books.

Pratt has been extremely vocal about promoting the Daniel Fast. He even dedicated the bulk of one visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promoting the diet and the biblical book of Daniel itself. He was there to promote "The Lego Movie 2," but spent most of the interviewing talking about religion before throwing in, "Oh also ... the Lego Movie comes out tomorrow."

Back in 2019, Chris Pratt came under scrutiny after he was called out on Twitter by Elliot Page. In response to his religion-focused interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Page tweeted, "Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?" The church in question was thought to be Hillsong Church, which is attended by numerous high-profile celebrities including Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and the Jenner/Kardashian clan, amongst others.

Pratt responded by saying that the church doesn't define his personal values and also said that Page's claim was untrue. Pratt claimed the church wasn't anti-anybody and instead welcomes all people to attend. The co-founder and head pastor of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, echoed the same sentiment as Pratt while also saying the quiet part out loud as he wrote in his blog at Hillsong.com, "Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles." He explicitly stated that the church welcomes gay people to attend but does not support their lifestyle, does not believe in gay marriage, and will not ever allow any LGBT+ people to work in leadership roles. In 2022, Houston was accused of and resigned over multiple sexual misconduct claims.

Marion Maddox, a feminist writer, described the church as "an intensely homophobic environment," and said that, "Hillsong demands compulsory heterosexuality," as per The Pink News. Until 2015, the church had a ban on homosexuality in its official code of ethics document. The church was also connected to the practice of gay conversion therapy and routinely sent members to conversion counselors and ex-gay programs.

Chris Pratt is extremely close with his brother Daniel 'Cully' Pratt, routinely bringing him up in interviews and on social media. With that in mind, it may be a bit alarming to learn that Cully is either a member of or at least supports the Three Percenters, according to The Independent.

The Three Percenters are a far-right extremist group that holds a violently pro-gun, anti-Black Lives Matter, and anti-government agenda. The group was directly linked to the January 6th insurrection in the U.S. Capitol and has been connected to multiple kidnapping plots, plans to assassinate members of state government, the bombing of a mosque in Illinois, and other deplorable criminal activities. Cully Pratt has created custom products for the Three Percenters and promoted the group on social media. Cully is a sheriff's deputy, and his entire police department has been associated with the Three Percenters. His sergeant denied the connection and publicly denounced the extremist group, but it was later revealed that he had previously made social media posts supporting the Three Percenters and even sold custom merch with the Three Percenters logo.

Beyond the connection through his brother, Chris Pratt has also been personally photographed wearing merch bearing Three Percenter logos and other imagery associated with the group, per Yahoo News. To be fair, it is possible that Chris may not know that the merch represents something so extreme — but the same benefit of the doubt cannot be afforded to Cully or his sergeant.