Guardians of the Galaxy's Chris Pratt reportedly auditioned to play Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the role of Steve Rogers eventually went to Chris Evans, it turns out Pratt was touted to play the First Avenger.
With the high-profile release of Disney+, there's been a whole host of MCU featurettes to let fans see behind the scenes of the franchise. One of the most interesting featurettes focused on casting director Sarah Finn. Talking about her role in the MCU, Finn revealed she'd championed Pratt to play Captain America.
"James Gunn has been very generous about this in saying that I, to the point of annoying him, kept insisting that Chris Pratt was the guy for the part," said Finn. "But Chris didn't want to play the part and refused to audition".
It's hard to imagine the MCU without Evans as the patriotic Captain America, but before he picked up a Vibranium shield, Evans had to beat the likes of Ryan Phillippe and John Krasinski (but not Chace Crawford) for the role. Elsewhere, Pratt has made a name for himself as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, since 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.
In the end, Finn persuaded the Parks and Recreation alum to audition for Steve Rogers, which led to his own MCU journey to become Star-Lord. The casting director described it as a "eureka moment" when she realized Pratt was the perfect Star-Lord. "I finally got him to audition and James Gunn said he didn’t want to see him and that really was a challenge," added Finn.
However, Finn won out in the end and convinced Gunn to see Pratt in action. She concluded, "I was really happy when I finally got them together and it was honestly one of those eureka moments that we talk about in casting when it absolutely feels right and you know it’s right. ‘James turned to me within ten seconds and said, 'He’s the guy.'"
Despite Evans discussing his own possible return to the MCU, the 38-year-old seems to be done as Captain America following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Elsewhere, Pratt looks set to continue fronting the rag-tag band of space rogues when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finally comes to the big screen. Fans will never know what a Pratt-led Captain America franchise would've looked like, but there is always the possibility it plays out in a Marvel's What...If? storyline.