Sometimes things that weren’t meant to be end up being, and being amazing on top of that. Case in point – we almost didn’t get Chris Pratt in his iconic Star Lord role in Guardians of the Galaxy, because he didn’t even want to audition for it. On top of that, franchise director (and co DC Studios head) James Gunn didn’t want to see him audition for the role.
This juicy little tidbit comes courtesy of a Variety red carpet interview with the film’s casting director Sarah Finn. An interviewer asked her just how the whole thing with Pratt being Star-Lord came about.
“This is one of the crazier stories in casting and James Gunn has been very generous in acknowledging how much I annoyed him. Because Chris wasn’t an obvious idea in the beginning.”
Well then how did she convince James to see Pratt read? Turns out it just kind of happened. Finn called it “fortuitous timing.” Pratt was walking into her office just as Gunn was walking out, and she said “Hey, let’s just do this.” To this day, she said, Gunn thinks she tricked him. However, what happened next was pure Hollywood magic.
Within 20 seconds of reading the lines, it was very clear that Pratt was perfect for the role. As Pratt was reading, Gunn turned to her and said, “He’s the guy.”
What was it that convinced Gunn? Just a matter of timing and luck.
“We had been auditioning for months to try to find this part, and the character’s very specific.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases May 5. Check out the trailer below.