Chris Pratt On Balancing Tone In Guardians Of The Galaxy
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Parks and Recreation actor Chris Pratt is quickly becoming a rising star in Hollywood. Although he has yet to take a leading role in a movie, Pratt has frequently “stolen the show” in a few popular movies such as Moneyball, The Five-Year Engagement, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. Pratt is rumored for the leading role in the upcoming Jurassic World, and he’ll have his first starring role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy this summer, playing the cosmic team of peacekeepers’ leader Star-Lord/Peter Quill.
In an interview with Mike Ryan from The Huffington Post, Pratt opens up about his role as the Element Gun-wielding Marvel superhero. The 34-year-old actor talked about how he didn’t lose enough weight for the Star-Lord role when he went into Marvel to audition. However, despite not being in great shape, Pratt still landed the role because of his performance. Apparently, James Gunn loved his personality and charisma. Pratt said:
I was still around 280 and that’s too big to be a Marvel character. But, it was in the audition. I mean, I knew he had my spirit — I knew that my spirit was right. And I knew it sounded right, I just didn’t look right yet.
Pratt also talked about the general tone of the upcoming Marvel movie. According to the film’s director, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the funniest, yet still emotionally touching, movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s face it, this is a weird movie about space aliens, walking trees, and talking raccoons, so that comedic tone is important. Pratt continued:
I think it should be really fun. But, that being said, it takes the dramatic beats seriously. I mean, it takes itself seriously when it needs to. Just as a whole it doesn’t take itself too seriously. But, it definitely takes it’s dramatic moments seriously. And the dramatic arcs and the bits of emotion that you’re supposed to feel something that you’re supposed to feel something that I think you really will. But, hopefully, it will be because it’s anchored to this comedy. Like, to the comedy that lives in it. If you tie comedy and drama together, than you don’t have to go as big to get laughs and you don’t have to go as big to get a real emotional response.
While movies like Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World are tearing up the box office this year, a movie like Guardians of the Galaxy is a big question for Marvel Studios. With the comic book characters mentioned, a general audience has at least a little bit of familiarity, but with the Guardians, there’s no telling if the masses will show up to the movie theater like they did for the Iron Man and Thor sequels. Marvel Studios can’t rely on their tricks and formula for success with the cosmic comic book movie, so balancing comedy and drama will be very important for the new film.
James Gunn describes the film’s story as involving “a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants (IE An Infinity Gem, namely the Blue Mind Gem).” Guardians of the Galaxy also stars Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Benicio Del Toro, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker, Olivia Lovibond, John C. Reilly, and Glenn Close. The Marvel movie will hits theaters everywhere on August 1, 2014, in 3D.
