‘He lost interest in life,’ Chris recalls. ‘He refused to take any medication or do physical therapy.’
The disease only exacerbated his father’s already harsh temperament.
‘He was already quite angry, and the disease made him even angrier.’
Looking back, Chris admits that his relationship with his father was complicated. When his father passed away in 2014, it had a lasting impact on him, which he reflected in some of his most emotional roles.
He considered serving in the army.
Fortunately, his father lived to see Chris’s success as a film star before he passed away.
‘In his last years, he watched a lot of television. That’s pretty much all he did, just sit in front of the television. So yes, I think he was proud of that, and it was great that I was able to connect with him, because he was a difficult person,’ Chris said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
After graduating from school, Chris considered joining the army, but instead became a waiter and attended classes at a local community college, including a theatre course.
Chris’s decision to immerse himself in the world of theatre was largely influenced by his older brother. His brother, who had served in the army himself, advised Chris not to follow in his footsteps, believing that he was destined for something else.
‘I think he saw something in me,’ Chris shared. ‘I was an unusual child. […] I dressed funny and felt comfortable in my own skin.’
Homeless on the sunny shores of Maui
However, college wasn’t interesting to him. He dropped out in the middle of his first semester and, to make ends meet, took on odd jobs — selling discount tickets and even moonlighting as a daytime stripper. Eventually, it all caught up with him, and Pratt found himself homeless on the sunny shores of Maui, Hawaii. He spent his nights in a van and a tent on the beach, trying to figure out what to do next.
‘It’s a pretty amazing place for homeless people. We just drank, smoked weed and worked the minimum number of hours to cover petrol, food and fishing gear,’ Chris told The Independent.
During this chaotic period of his life, Chris reconnected with his spiritual side and became a deeply religious person. But his time in Maui changed his life not only on a personal level — it also set him on the path to Hollywood.
At the age of 19, while working as a busboy at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Maui, fate intervened in his life. Actress and director Ray Dawn Chong happened to notice him and decided to cast him in her directorial debut, a low-budget horror short film called The Curse, Part 3, shot in Los Angeles.
A dream to pursue
The film was not a blockbuster, but for Chris it was a turning point. He earned $700 for the role — enough, he said, to live on for a year. But more importantly, he got a taste for acting and fell in love with it. With nothing to lose and chasing his dream, he packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles, determined to make it in Hollywood.
But breaking into the industry without connections was like looking for a needle in a haystack. While Chris was trying to get auditions, he did a simple job — he worked as a waiter to pay the bills and occasionally got small roles in minor productions.
‘I was an outsider, with no connections, no nepotism, nothing. I was a complete stranger in Hollywood,’ he later admitted.
He had no idea that his moment of glory was just around the corner.
He met his on-screen sister in real life
Chris Pratt’s first major television role came when he was cast as Harold ‘Bright’ Abbott in the drama series Everwood. The series ran for four seasons and 89 episodes, and for Pratt, the role was a turning point. He often refers to Everwood as the role that truly launched his career.
While filming Everwood, Chris Pratt and Emily VanCamp, who played siblings Bright and Amy Abbott, began a real-life romance. While their loved ones were happy about the relationship, outsiders often reacted differently.
“We’re used to the reaction, “Ugh, that’s weird. That’s creepy.” People who know us are happy and probably expected it to happen eventually. But yes, from time to time we encounter people who say, ‘That’s really creepy. You just kissed your sister,'” Pratt shared with TV Guide.
At first, even Chris and Emily found it a little strange — not because of their roles, but because they were trying to keep their relationship a secret.
“We thought it was strange for the first six months, but that was more because we were just trying to hide our relationship from the film crew. I don’t know why, and looking back, I can say it was silly. But we tried to keep it a secret and didn’t want anyone to find out. We were never embarrassed about playing brother and sister because, you know, it’s all fiction,” he explained.
How Chris Pratt created Andy Dwyer
Three years after the end of the series Everwood, Chris Pratt landed the role of the lovable fool Andy Dwyer in the NBC series Parks and Recreation. Andy was originally supposed to be a temporary character, but Pratt’s charm and comedic talent proved so spot on that the producers made him a regular on the show.