One of the hottest up-and-coming things in Hollywood right now, Chris Pratt has been speaking to The Huffington Post about his role as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, In James Gunn’s Marvel space epic, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

In terms of the audition, Pratt revealed that he was a little worried about his weight at that time. He said, “For me, it felt like a perfect fit right off the bat. I felt like at my very first audition that I nailed it, but I was afraid that I wasn’t physically right for it because I was still pretty big from this movie . And so I just thought, if they could just believe in me, then I can lose this weight, then I’ll get this role. But I had a feeling it was a little too much weight to expect any person to lose. I was determined at that point. I was like, ‘Well, you know what, if I’m not going to get this, that’s fine. But no one is ever going to tell me that I’m too fat for a role again. I’m going to start getting in shape.’ So I started getting in shape right away. We wrapped DELIVERY MAN right around this time last year – oh my gosh, what a year – and I had gotten heavy, heavy, heavy and I went through the holidays and I continued to gain weight. Then, right at January 1st, I started working out. Then around the 15th, this audition came up. So I had lost probably 10 pounds, but I was still around 280 lbs and that’s too big to be a Marvel character. But, it was in the audition. I mean, I knew he had my spirit – I knew that my spirit was right – and I knew it sounded right. I just didn’t look right yet.”

Discussing the tone of the movie and the teaser footage that was shown earlier this year at Comic-Con, Pratt said, “I really think that’s the movie we made, too. That’s so representative of the movie we made. It’s one of those things – you don’t want to get too excited as an actor.”

Asked about whether the movie is more light-hearted than some of the other Marvel Studios films, the ZERO DARK THIRTY star agreed, “Yeah that’s just right,” he said. “It should be really fun. I think it should be really fun. But, that being said, it takes the dramatic beats seriously. I mean, it takes itself seriously when it needs to. And the dramatic arcs and the bits of emotion that you’re supposed to feel something… that I think you really will. But, hopefully, it will be because it’s anchored to this comedy. Like, to the comedy that lives in it. If you tie comedy and drama together then you don’t have to go as big to get laughs, and you don’t have to go as big to get a real emotional response.”

Finally, asked as to whether he has a multi-picture deal with Marvel Studios, Pratt revealed, “I think that’s how it works for everyone. Yeah, they pretty much own me for as long as they want, which, hopefully, will be a really long time.”

In Marvel’s space opera, we have Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Vin Diesel doing motion capture and voice work for Groot, and Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket Raccoon. Making up the cast of Gunn’s film are the likes of Michael Rooker, Benicio del Toro, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Gregg Henry and Glenn Close.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is set for a 1st August, 2014 release.

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