Chris Pratt came from a simple family. Kathy, his mother, worked in a grocery store, and Dan, his father, was a contractor.
Kathy made sure that her kids always felt loved. The actor’s relationship with Dan was not easy, but now he can look back and be grateful for the lessons Dan taught him.
Pratt bought a house for his mother when he was 23. It was his first big purchase as a “well-paid” actor. The gift was important because he didn’t have one before he became an actor and because he knows how hard things were for his family in the past.
Getting his wish
Chris was born in the US state of Minnesota in 1979, but he grew up in the state of Washington. He quit college to sell coupons as part of a multi-level marketing plan.
When he realized that sales wasn’t his future, he moved to Maui, Hawaii, to follow his dream of becoming an artist. Chris wrote in a blog post about that time in his life:
“I worked hard and went hungry. I had to eat sardines and find a way to pay for gas. I never had a backup plan.”
He didn’t have a place to live, so he and a friend camped on the beach. He was far from home, away from his family and their love and protection. Survival was the most important thing, but his big dream kept him hopeful. He thought he would get there someday.
Chris looks back on that time in his life with fondness, even though it was hard. When he was younger, he worked as a waiter at Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co., a job he loved. He would talk to people, sing “Happy Birthday,” or play trivia games with them.
One day, actress and director Rae Dawn Chong noticed him and gave him his first role in the movie “Cursed Part 3.” After that, he was in TV shows like “Everwood,” where he played Bright Abbot, and “The OC,” where he played Ché.
He also tried his hand at movies. For example, he had small parts in “Moneyball” and “Jenifer’s Body.” Chris Pratt was on the move and ready to take advantage of every chance.
Chris’s audition for the role of Andy Dwyer on “Parks and Recreation” went well because he brought his usual enthusiasm and lack of fear to the role. When co-creator Mike Shur thought back to that audition, he told LADbible:
“We need to rethink this because this guy is the funniest person we’ve ever seen. We won’t be letting him go.”
Pratt persuaded the show’s producers to make the guest spot a regular part of the show. He then established himself as a comedic actor and fan favorite.
Chris was finally noticed by people in the movie business. When Hollywood heard that he was a rising star, they came to his door.
Pratt’s life changed a lot in 2014. He played the main character in two movies. In “The Lego Movie,” he was Emmet Brickowski, and in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” he was Peter Quill/Star-Lord.
Since then, he has made a name for himself as a leading actor, starring in major blockbusters and showing that he can do everything from comedy to drama to thrillers to science fiction.
“Jurassic World,” the fourth movie in the “Jurassic Park” series, made him the most money. Another big moment in his career was being in the remake of “The Magnificent Seven” with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.
A place for his mom to live.
At age 23, Pratt used the money from his first well-paid role to buy a house for his mother. At that moment, he felt like he was putting an end to a cycle that began when they were kids and had to deal with hard things.
“We never had any doubts about whether or not we were loved. Never. You made us feel confident. You gave us grit. You helped us stay on track. Chris wrote to his mother on Instagram, “You cut our hair and made us food.”
The actor’s posts on social media show that Kathy is a big part of his life. He loves her for how kind she is, how accepting she is of others, and how upbeat she is about life.
The actor from “Parks and Recreation” says that his mother also taught him how to act. Her kids knew they could count on her to make even the most boring task into a show.
But the star of “Jurassic World” had a complicated relationship with his father. He says that his father, who was a contractor, was hardworking, sure of himself, and “old-fashioned.”
Chris’s father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Chris was in his 20s. Dan’s sense of self-worth was hurt. He could handle any problem that came his way, but his smarts and skills weren’t enough to beat the disease.
Dan finally gave up, and his relationship with Pratt’s mother ended because of it. In 2014, he passed away.
When Chris talked about his dad, he liked that Dan showed in his own way that he was proud of him. Because his father watched everything on TV, he thought he could talk to him through his work.
Chris Pratt is now the proud father of three children. He has a 10-year-old son named Jack with his first wife, Anna Faris, and 2-year-old and 8-month-old daughters named Lyla and Eloise with his second wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger.