Chris Pratt has admitted that he parents his daughters differently than his son.
The Guardians of the Galaxy actor, 44, recently explained why he’s noticed a “big difference” between raising his 11-year-old son Jack, who he shares with ex Anna Faris, and his daughters Lyla, three, and Eloise, one – who he shares with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
“I hate to make generalisations based on gender but, in my experience, girls are more emotional," Pratt said in an interview with E! News on 13 May. “They’ve got me wrapped around their finger. It’s wild.”
While Pratt noted that all of his children are “cuddly and snuggly”, he shared that his daughters require a softer touch and “don’t like to rough house as much”.
“I’ll hit them with a pillow and they’ll go, ‘Daddy, that hurt my feelings,’” he said of playing with his daughters. “They like to hear stories more than they like to wrestle.”
Pratt also pointed out that another “big difference” between raising his son and his daughters is the amount of planning that goes into their daily lives. While he admitted that his girls “take after their mother, who is incredibly organised,” Pratt maintained that every child is different.
“But even the differences between my two daughters just goes to show that every child is a little bit different,” he added.
The Jurassic World star was married to fellow actor Faris in 2009, and welcomed their son Jack in 2012. They announced their split in August 2017 and finalised their divorce in October 2018, four months after he began dating Schwarzenegger.
Pratt proposed to the 34-year-old author in January 2019 and they were married in June that year. They went on to welcome daughter Lyla Maria in August 2020 and daughter Eloise Christina in May 2022.
This isn’t the first time the Parks and Recreation actor has opened up about being a father to three. Back in January, Pratt shared a glimpse into his morning routine with Jack, Lyla, and Eloise. In a post on his Instagram Story, he shared a snap of his three kids sitting next to each other at the kitchen table. “Breakfast is served,” he captioned the post.
The actor previously sparked a backlash on social media when he praised his wife for giving him a “gorgeous healthy daughter”, as many people noted that his son Jack was born prematurely. He shared an Instagram post of himself and Schwarzenegger in 2021, encouraging his followers to “find someone” who looks at them the way his wife does.
“We met in church. She’s given me an amazing life, a gorgeous healthy daughter, she chews so loudly that sometimes I put in my earbuds to drown it out, but that’s love!” the actor wrote in the Instagram caption. “She helps me with everything. In return, periodically, I open a jar of pickles. That’s the trade. Her heart is pure and it belongs to me.”
However, many fans accused the actor of being “passive-aggressive” towards Faris, who has been open about their son’s health issues in the past. In June 2022, he addressed the backlash towards his social media post by calling out critics.
“I said something like, ‘Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me.’ And then I gave her some s*** in the thing and said, ‘But I love you. I’m so thankful for my wife – she gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter,’” he told Men’s Health at the time. “And then a bunch of articles came out and said, ‘That’s so cringeworthy. I can’t believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature. That’s such a dig at his ex-wife,’” he recalled.
“And I’m like, That is f***ed up. My son’s gonna read that one day. He’s nine. And it’s etched in digital stone. It really f***ing bothered me, dude. I cried about it,” he said. “I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are – to the people close to me – a real burden.”
