Marvel Cinematic Universe icon and Jurassic World: Dominion star Chris Pratt recently opened up about his miserable auditions for Star Trek and Avatar.
In an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, Pratt explained his terrible experiences auditioning for the respective roles. He explained, "It was so not close that it was really demoralizing and made me actually truly question my potential or what I should be aiming for as an actor." For his Avatar audition, he said, "I just remember reading this character description and it was like 'he walks in and he has the it factor.' So I was feeling, you know, a little bit overweight, I wasn’t really taking care of myself physically, I was in a relationship where we were, you know, drinking a lot. I walked in, and I started sweating immediately, and it was a casting assistant."
The opportunity seemed dead from the start, as Pratt explained, "She just looked at me and she just pressed record and she just started doing her stuff while I was reading with her other casting assistant. I saw that there was literally nothing about my audition that was compelling at all."
Pratt's current starring role as Owen Grady has, fortunately for his career, come as a reprisal of a much more lauded performance that began in 2015's Jurassic World. Jurassic World: Dominion, which arrived in theaters on June 10, is the latest in the long-running franchise which started back in 1993 with the first Jurassic Park film. Pratt recently discussed his character's arc throughout the latest trilogy, noting, "In the third film, his focus has been, 'We can try to make it right."
The actor is currently slated to voice the leading role in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated feature film. Fans have been outspoken in their general dislike of Pratt's casting as Mario, something that Illumination Entertainment founder and CEO Chris Meledandri has defended. Meledandri said, "Chris was cast because we felt he could give a great performance as Mario. And now that we've done about 15 recording sessions, and the movie is three-quarters done, I sit here and say that I love his performance as Mario."
Pratt also offered his critique of his performance, stating, "I worked really closely with the directors and trying out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of and can’t wait for people to see and hear." He also added, "It's an animated voiceover narrative. It's not a live-action movie. I'm not gonna be wearing a plumber suit running all over. I'm providing a voice for an animated character, and it is updated and unlike anything you've heard in the Mario world before."
Jurassic World: Dominion is in theaters now. Super Mario Bros. is currently set to premiere in North America on April 7, 2023, and in Japan on April 28, 2023.
Source: SmartLess