He started with nothing, wearing three-size-too-small shoes and living in a trailer with his impoverished family.
He moved from serving tables and playing little roles to starring in Hollywood’s greatest franchises via perseverance.
Let’s examine Chris Pratt’s remarkable ascent to prominence.
Chris Pratt is humble despite his success, possibly due to his upbringing. He’s a superb actor and much more likable than his roles since he’s graceful, funny, and classy. It’s no surprise fans like myself love him off-screen. If not an actor, he may be a good comic.
His miner father
The 45-year-old actor was raised in a rural village by working-class parents and learned the hard truths of life. He had no idea his charisma, wit, and determination would make him one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. Pratt has done it all, from playing a Navy SEAL in The Terminal List to voicing Garfield. With parts in Zero Dark Thirty (2013), the Jurassic World trilogy, and Guardians of the Galaxy, his career has soared during the past decade.
Christopher Michael Pratt learned the value of a dollar as a working-class kid.
Chris, born June 21, 1979, in Virginia, Minnesota, was reared with his older siblings Cully and Angie. Father was a taconite miner and subsequently a construction worker, while mother worked at Safeway. But money was constantly tight despite their efforts.
We had such little money as kids that I would say, “No!” if someone asked if I read comic books. Comics cost a lot. They said, “What do you mean?” They cost three bucks. Not having three bucks makes that pricey!”
Tough circumstances, tight shoes
The family moved to Lake Stevens, Washington, when Chris was seven, perhaps seeking financial security. But times were poor, and Chris learned not to ask for things his parents couldn’t afford.
“I’ve experienced not asking. Being wise enough not to inquire. The point? You eventually cease asking…
Shoes are a major issue.
Our shoes were usually the worst. Shoes were crucial as a kid! I got Reebok Pumps after winning 85 bucks playing bingo with my mom. Man, I wore those shoes for three years. They got so little that I had to cut the pump with a razor to make room.”
Although he played action roles in Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, Chris Pratt was not athletic as a child. In reality, a childhood injury made running risky.
His leg strangely grew.
“My leg grew oddly. I run somewhat crooked. Pratt told AP in 2018 that running at peak speed would likely cause him to fall.
Even he joked that his high school football highlight reel was basically him falling unexpectedly.
“My high school football highlight tape was all about me falling midfield, like I tripped over my shoelaces.”
Since sprinting wasn’t his thing, Pratt focused on wrestling in high school. Pratt fell in love with wrestling in Lake Stevens, Seattle, like football in Texas.
Chris was a track team shot putter, demonstrating his strength and drive. He had a gut sense about his future even if he hadn’t found it.
Family lost home
He confidently told his wrestling instructor what he intended to do with his life:
«I don’t know, but I know I’ll be famous and make a shit ton of money.» No idea how. I was inactive.”
That self-confidence was right. He had a long way to go before becoming a Hollywood star.
Chris Pratt’s path to prominence was about overcoming life’s challenges. While attending Lake Stevens High School, his family lost their home and moved into a rental. He moved in with a buddy instead of his parents’ suggestion to live in a shed loft next to their trailer.
Multiple sclerosis diagnosis
Chris’s father’s health declined as financial problems worsened. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a family disease, he withdrew and became increasingly bitter.
“He had lost interest in life,” Chris said. “He refused any medication or physical therapy.”
The illness made his father even tougher.
He was already ornery, so that made him more so.”
Chris now realizes his father-son bond was difficult. He channeled his grief over his father’s 2014 death into some of his most emotive parts.
Thought about joining the military
Before his death, Chris’s father saw some of his film accomplishments.
He watched lots of TV in his later years. He mostly sat in front of a TV. Chris told Vanity Fair, “I think it made him proud, and it was cool that I got to connect with him, because he was hard to connect with.”
Chris pondered entering the military after high school, but he ended up serving tables and taking theatrical studies at a local community college.
His older brother affected Chris’s theater career. After joining the Army, his brother advised Chris to choose a different route, feeling he was intended for more.
“I think he saw something in me,” Chris said. I was a strange kid. ‘I dressed goofy and felt comfortable in my own skin.’
Homeless on sunny Maui
But college wasn’t for him. He quit midway through the first semester and worked odd jobs like selling bargain tickets and stripping during the day. It all caught up with Pratt, who became homeless on Maui, Hawaii. He spent his evenings in a camper and tent on the beach planning his next move.
“Homelessness is great here. Chris told The Independent that they drank and smoked pot and worked few hours to pay for petrol, food, and fishing.
Chris rediscovered his spirituality and became extremely faithful during this difficult time. His experience in Maui would change him personally and set him on the route to Hollywood.
While waiting tables at Maui’s Bubba Gump Shrimp Company aged 19, fate intervened. He was cast in Rae Dawn Chong’s low-budget Los Angeles short horror film Cursed Part 3, when she noticed him.
Dream to pursue
The movie wasn’t a hit, but it changed Chris. The post paid $700, enough for a year, he said. Importantly, it introduced him to acting and hooked him. He traveled to Los Angeles to succeed in Hollywood with nothing to lose and a dream.
However, entering the industry without ties was like finding a needle in a haystack. Chris worked tables to pay the rent and occasionally got small roles in local productions while auditioning.
I was an outsider with no connections or nepotism. He then claimed to being a Hollywood outsider.
Little did he realize, his big break was coming.
Real-life date with his star sister
On Everwood, Chris Pratt played Harold Brighton “Bright” Abbott, his first major TV role. It was a game-changer for Pratt throughout four seasons and 89 episodes. He typically credits Everwood with launching his career.
Everwood actors Chris Pratt and Emily VanCamp, who played Bright and Amy Abbott, dated. Others were less enthusiastic about the connection than those close to them.
We’re used to hearing, ‘Eww, that’s weird. That’s creepy. The people who know us are happy and probably expected it. We occasionally get someone who says, “That’s really creepy.” Pratt told TV Guide, “You just kissed your sister.”
Chris and Emily initially thought it unusual, not because of their positions but because they were trying to hide their relationship.
“We thought it was weird for the first six months, but it was more about hiding our relationship from the set. For some reason, it was silly. However, we wanted to keep it a secret. We never felt strange playing brother and sister since it’s fantasy, he said.
How Chris Pratt grew Andy Dwyer
NBC’s Parks and Recreation cast Chris Pratt as buffoon Andy Dwyer three years after Everwood. The producers made Andy a series regular because Pratt’s charm and comedic timing were so good.
This was his breakthrough role, and many fans still think of him as Andy, the amusing, clueless, amazing Andy.
Chris Pratt’s Andy Dwyer was influenced by his father. Pratt called his father’s strict parenting “emotional scarification.”
I developed Andy using humor as a self-defense strategy early on. I spent my life perfecting my clown, Andy on ‘Parks and Rec’, Pratt stated.
Chris Pratt celebrated personal accomplishments with Parks and Recreation’s success. He met Anna Faris, his love interest in Take Me Home Tonight, in 2007. A year later, the pair became engaged after their on-screen romance carried over. They married spontaneously in Bali, Indonesia, in 2009.
His premature son revived his God-faith.
After moving to Hollywood Hills, the couple had their son Jack in 2012. His birth was unusual—he was born nine weeks early at 3 pounds 12 ounces. Pratt later said it strengthened his faith.
“It really defined my faith in God,” he added, adding that he and Anna “prayed a lot” in the early days. “It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it,” the actor told People.
Chris Pratt, Anna Faris
Pratt and Faris separated in 2017 after nearly a decade.
The following year, he rekindled his romance with Katherine Schwarzenegger.
The two met through her mother, Maria Shriver, and the rest is history. Pratt joined the Kennedy family in 2019 after marrying Katherine Schwarzenegger.
Chris Pratt discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger
The couple had Lyla in 2020 and Eloise in 2022. Pratt revealed his open heart when asked about his famed father-in-law, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Gift-giving is absolutely one of his love languages,” Chris told Men’s Health. “The most thoughtful gifts you could imagine, like quilts with all the baby’s pictures.”
Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger live in a beautiful Brentwood home. The couple bought the historic Ellwood Zimmerman House in 2023 but demolished it to build a larger, more modern residence.
Chris Pratt has kept grounded and connected to his roots despite his celebrity and fortune. His father, who died in 2014, has influenced him.
His appearance and behavior remind Pratt of his father. I suppose we look alike. Occasionally, I hear his voice in my mouth—some of his words and some of mine,” he said.
Back to his origins
After working as a server, Pratt returned to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in 2019. He posted a wistful Instagram photo of his humble beginnings.
I worked as a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company waiter 20 years ago. Every time I go back, I remember eating hundreds of shrimp off people’s platters on my way to the kitchen. Remember to tip your server. Leave 20%. He sarcastically captioned the shot, asking everyone to be kind and generous.
Pratt remembers that success doesn’t change who you are, from his small town upbringing to his popularity.
Whether recalling his father’s influence or revisiting his hometown, Pratt favors the trip over the destination.