It can be easy to forget that Chris Pratt first connected with audiences as Andy Dwyer, the well-meaning, slightly out-of-shape goofball on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Long before the superhero workouts and franchise stardom that came with Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, the Electric State actor was carving out a very different kind of on-screen identity. Now, in a wide-ranging conversation, he’s looking back on the moment he realized that gaining weight actually helped him understand where he belonged as a performer, along with why being related to Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned out to be a major plus.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Pratt recalled noticing one year that the number on the scale was creeping up. Rather than seeing it as a problem, he realized something surprising had happened at the same time. As he explained:
