Guardians of the Galaxy: Chris Pratt On What Got Him Into Superhero Shape
Chris Pratt explains who helped him transform his body between playing Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation and Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. Most fans were introduced to Pratt as the silly and fun Andy Dwyer, but the actor's career went in a different direction when Pratt got the role of the Peter Quill aka. Star-Lord, the leader of the cosmic team. To prepare for the Marvel movie, Pratt had to lose 60 pounds in just seven months, a transformation that was discussed widely prior to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.
Pratt will next be seen in the MCU in Taikia Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder, which features many of the Guardians characters. He'll then return in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn has said this third movie will be the last for the original Guardians of the Galaxy team. In the threequel, Pratt will be joined by Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel as Groot and and Pom Klementieff as Mantis, all reprising their roles. Will Poulter was cast as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, with the cosmic-powered being having been teased in the second film's credits scene.
Pratt recently shared the secrets that transformed him into Peter Quill in on Instagram. In the post he talks about Simon Waterson, who trained Pratt for Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World. Pratt also explains that Waterson has trained Daniel Craig, Tom Hiddleston, John Boyega “and all these different stars that he has turned into heroes.” In the video, Pratt seems very enthusiastic about Waterson's book Intelligent Fitness and Duffy Gaver's Hero Maker, saying, “I really think that the secret is in these two books. Applied to my life, they changed my life and I think if you apply them to your life it will change your life too.”
Pratt explains that the process of transforming from Andy Dwyer into Star-Lord took seven months and spanned two continents. Waterson started training Pratt when he arrived in London to film the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Before that, he worked with Gaver, a former US Navy Seal. Pratt says fellow MCU star Chris Hemsworth, who's done his own fair share of workouts, is also a big fan of Gaver’s book. It's clear that Pratt's work with Waterson and Gaver helped him achieve the physique displayed in both Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel. Because of that role in the MCU, Pratt's gone on to pivot his career from comedy to action (with humor included in his Marvel movies), so it had a major impact not just on a single film.
The "superhero body" has become a major element of comic book movies, with actors across both Marvel and DC sharing their progress of working out to prepare for their roles. Kumail Nanjiani made similar headlines to Pratt after revealing a shirtless photo ahead of filming Eternals; Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson posted regular updates as she trained for her sequel film, The Marvels. There has even been criticism levied at actors who don't ascribe to the "superhero body," like Robert Pattinson when he said he wasn't working out for The Batman - though he later revealed that was a joke. It's a common topic of conversation around these movies, and it may be at least partially due to Pratt's own transformation. Now he's offered some more insight into how he got in shape for Guardians of the Galaxy.
Source: Chris Pratt/Instagram