Yahoo Movies Chris Pratt, once lazy like Garfield, says he's more pampered now: 'I'm an indoor cat'
The Marvel star made his name as the slovenly Andy Dwyer in Parks and Rec, so he knows a thing or two about taking things easy
Watch: Chris Pratt shares how he relates to Garfield
The Garfield Movie star Chris Pratt was once best known as Andy, the resident slacker on his breakthrough sitcom Parks and Recreation, who loved the laziness that went with two broken legs so much that he delayed his casts being removed.
Now better known as the much more active Peter Quill and Owen Grady — and the voices of Super Mario and The Lego Movie's Emmet Brickowski — the actor may have shaken off the idleness of his breakthrough role, but he admits he shares a similarity with his latest one, Garfield: “I’ve definitely become an indoor cat.”
Pratt is the voice of everybody’s favourite lazy feline in The Garfield Movie (in UK cinemas 24 May) and, talking to Yahoo UK, admits he “can relate to the laziness of Garfield: lying down and eating pizzas and lasagnas.
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"I’ve been that guy before and it’s a fun place to be. But I’m more of a pampered version of Garfield now – I’ve definitely become an indoor cat, being a Hollywood guy.”
And he pays tribute to the team behind his superstar lifestyle. “I’m absolutely taken care of by a team of people who put my looks together and my hair and my make-up. I’m very pampered.”
The lazier times in his pre-pampered life were part of the reason Pratt was keen to take on the role. “I’ve had some wonderfully lazy seasons in my life,” he recalls. “Mark Dindal, our director, had been working on this for years — as they do in animation — and told me he’d always pictured me in this role.
"As he was putting together the film, he heard my voice coming out of Garfield’s mouth. To me, that was great. It was a perfect fit for me.”
In the film, cute kitten Garfield charms his way into the life of the long-suffering Jon (voiced by Nicholas Hoult) and gets his appetite for lasagna and pizza. But, as a very fully grown cat, he’s re-united with his long-lost father, street cat Vic (the voice of Samuel L Jackson) and, instead of chilling on the sofa, has to join his dad in a high-stakes heist. Joining in the fun are the voices of Ving Rhames and Ted Lasso duo Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein.
Despite pampering and work commitments — he’s currently filming sci-fi thriller Mercy with Rebecca Ferguson and True Detective’s Kali Reis — Pratt makes sure there’s time to take it easy with his family.
"I get all my kids and my wife and we sit on this big comfortable bed/couch thing we have on the balcony," Pratt shares about his home life with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger and their two young children.
"I turn on the fire and the heat lamps and we just sit there, listen to music and cuddle. It’s so dreamy and so cozy. I’d sit there all day if I could."
Garfield made his first big screen appearance 20 years ago in Garfield: The Movie. Bill Murray voiced the world-famous lasagna lover and a sequel, Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties, followed two years later. Both films were mainly live action, but this brand new version is full-on animation.
Pratt is due back on our screens later this year in The Electric State, re-uniting him with Anthony and Joe Russo who directed him in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The Netflix production also stars Millie Bobby Brown, Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan and Stanley Tucci.
The Garfield Movie is in cinemas on 24 May.
