Since Guardians Of The Galaxy rocketed him to bona fide movie star status, Chris Pratt has been working consistently, landing a number of big roles. But what of his return to Star-Lord’s coat, face mask and wisecracking ways? Writer/director James Gunn is hard at work on the Marvel movie follow-up and Pratt, talking to GQ, has revealed that Gunn briefed him on the basics for the sequel.
"I got teary-eyed," Pratt says. "He's so fucking smart and peculiar." And he also drops word that the director held back a fair amount to keep his leading man guessing (or possibly because he'll say too much before the film even starts shooting).
While talking up the fact that Pratt is, by Marvel tradition, signed up to at least five more movies, the piece also has some fascinating insight into the pair’s working relationship on the first Guardians, including the slight friction early on. “James had a hard time working with me for about the first half of the movie," Pratt explains. "He'll say — and I wouldn't want to be quoted (sounding like I was) saying this about myself — I'm a much more cerebral person than you may expect. You may see this guy who's sort of like goofy and funny and doesn't give two shits, but really I'm thinking a lot, in my head below the surface. It's a little bit like a Venus flytrap. If you stick your finger in and it closes, it takes like a week to open back up.” Still, Pratt got out of his head and the results speak for themselves.
Elsewhere, he addresses the current rumours about him shouldering the mantle of Harrison Ford's iconic role as Indiana Jones - “I came home from a ranch, and then there was paparazzi asking me about it and people asking me to sign Indiana Jones pictures and Indiana Jones hats” - and says that he hasn’t spoken to anyone about it beyond a Disney executive mentioning the company having the rights. As for the more recent talk of the new male-centric Ghostbusters, for which Pratt was rumoured alongside Channing Tatum? “No-one has ever even spoken to me about that," he says. "Never. I've even seen Channing a couple times. As far as I know, that's complete bullshit."
His next big film, Jurassic World, will be out on June 12. Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, which kicks off shooting in February, is set for April 28, 2017.