Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, 37, is no stranger to outer space. In the new sci-fi drama Passengers, opening December 21, Pratt—who played bumbling Andy Dwyer on TV’s Parks and Recreation from 2009 to 2015—takes another journey, this time with Jennifer Lawrence, as two interstellar travelers who wake unexpectedly from long-term cyber sleep to discover something has gone awry. Here are five facts about the Minnesota-born actor.
- Chris Pratt’s favorite childhood book was Where the Red Fern Grows.
- As a wrestler in high school, he finished fifth in a statewide tournament.
- He was “discovered” waiting tables at a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant by actress Rae Dawn Chong.
- Pratt and his wife, actress Anna Faris (Mom), first bonded because each of them had a dead bug collection.
- He’s gained and lost a lot of weight for his art. He weighed 220 pounds for Everwood, 295 for Delivery Man, 230 for Guardians—and dropped 30 pounds in three months to land the role of real-life baseball player Scott Hatteberg in Moneyball.