Chris Pratt, popularly known for playing Star-Lord in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, had almost lost his role in another franchise that he led simultaneously while carrying out his galactic duties.
During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live a couple of months ago, Pratt revealed that he had a hard time cracking auditions for films initially; he was turned down from a wide range of franchises, like James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), and J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek (2009).
Last year in April, it was revealed that Pratt’s Owen Grady in Jurassic World (2015) could have gone to another major Marvel actor. Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast invited the man who played Thanos – Josh Brolin, to reveal the truth.
Brolin, who gained fame with 2007’s No Country for Old Men, said that he was contacted first to take up Owen Grady in the $3.96 billion franchise; he turned it down for a strange reason.
Chris Pratt Nearly Lost Jurassic World To Josh Brolin
Pratt and Josh Brolin, who ended up facing each other in Avengers: Infinity War, were the shortlisted candidates, noted the latter. Steven Spielberg, who started the franchise with his original vision – Jurassic Park (1993), was quoted by Brolin as he said to Horowitz that it did not work out for him.
“With all respect to Steven [Spielberg], I could not picture me doing it. I could not picture myself being that guy. And I’m very, very happy, based on my decision, of what Chris does with it because I think Chris is the right guy.”
Paving the way for Chris Pratt, Brolin also highlighted his role in the Guardians film and being embarrassed by his acting.
Chris Pratt Could Not Sell Star-Lord Initially
Pratt, after many struggles to land a lead role, found his place in the misfit group at Marvel that launched his career as a bankable movie star. The chemistry and banter between Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Vin Diesel’s Groot, and Bradley Cooper’s Rocket along with Pratt’s comedic chops embarrassed Brolin.
“When I saw Chris in Guardians of the Galaxy, and I was just like, ‘What?’ I mean, we all were. I even said it to him embarrassingly at a party, ‘Dude!’” – Brolin said.
Nonetheless, he believed Pratt was the right actor for the job.
“I think I knew from a big-picture standpoint that somebody else would do a much better job than me.”
With Jurassic World Dominion last year, Pratt has closed the chapter on his iteration. The film saw the return of three stars from Spielberg’s era – Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, and BD Wong.
Jurassic World franchise is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Instagram
