He may not be a household name right now, but when Marvel blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy smashes onto the big screen this week Chris Pratt's going to have everyone talking.
Chris (husband to Anna Faris) has been stealing the show as Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation since 2009, alongside the also-hilarious Aubrey Plaza, who plays his on screen wife (depending on where you've got up to with the show, my bad if you haven't reached that bit yet).
On the sly, though, the actor's been quietly racking up supporting roles in blockbuster films like Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty and Her before voicing the lead in the Lego Movie, which, if you still haven't seen, is by far the funniest film 2014's had to offer so far. Now he's really hitting the big time with a lead role in Marvel's new comic book franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy.
G of the G is excellent. Even if you don't really like space movies (for us, they usually rate somewhere below anything with Emma Stone but above anything with Jason Statham), it's clever, fun and self-aware, in large part thanks to Chris himself as its loveable protagonist Peter 'Starlord' Quill.
In Pratt's own words, it's the story of a 'rag-tag squad of losers and misfits, all running from something, in an epic, spectacular, space-rock opera, until they find what they're looking for is one another, and the opportunity to become heroes.' Quite.
We sat down with him and found out there's plenty more reasons to crush hard on this guy. Here's why...
He got really hot really quickly
He used to look like this, and then out of nowhere, he looks like this!
He likes to party
'What's my favourite thing to do in London? Drink. I like to let London choose me. I just stumble around until I find a pub and cosy up. That's been pretty cool. I love your pub culture, and I love the British sense of humour, it's very dry. And a little bit mean.'
He French-plaited an intern's hair
In April, Chris posted a photo on Instagram of a french braid he'd done in his wife Anna Faris' hair, complete with the caption: 'This is a weird thing to brag about but I did that glorious french braid. #Baller #man #ManBraid #RealMenBraid #isItBrade? #SpellingQuestion #StillBallerTho #WhyIsItFrench??? #ICallItAFreedomBraid #GoUsa'. He got asked about it during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, and next minute there's an intern on camera having her hair done. Hey guys, maybe we should call him Chris Plaitt! Guys?
He can solve a Rubik's Cube in two minutes and 36 seconds
'I mean, the world record is six seconds, so mine's not that impressive. But I like to do it to keep my mind sharp. Like doing a sudoko. If this acting thing doesn't work out, maybe I can do my Rubik's Cube in the street.'
He's one of the good guys
'If I wasn't an actor, I would see myself in law enforcement. My brother is a cop, I've always thought it would be cool. I'd like to drive around with a cop car and throw drug dealers on their faces. I think that would be neat.'
He's all about the women
'I don't call myself a feminist, but I'm married to a very strong woman. Women have been kicking ass for so long. I dated a girl who called herself a feminist and we didn't always get along, so I think I associate the term with a bad relationship I was in, but maybe I should learn more about it.' (We told Chris that in our definition, feminism means equality). 'Oh really? Well then, of course I'm a feminist! Oh yeah, I'm an equalist. I'm a humanist.'
He chose this for his superpower
'A superpower? I'd have the ability to crap someone else's pants.'
Guardians of the Galaxy* is out Thursday 31st July*
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.