Chris Pratt has had one of the most interesting careers of any actor out there. He has gone from slumming it in a van to becoming one of the funniest characters of a beloved sitcom, to finally being a legitimately bankable movie star. Pratt is not only part of the MCU, but he is also the star of the Jurassic World movies.
Things haven’t always been easy for Pratt, and a lot of times he took whatever acting gigs he could get. Time and time again, he proved that he could make people laugh or turn in a serious performance if he needed to. Like any actor, Pratt has plenty of roles that may have gone completely forgotten.
10. JUSTIN (ZERO DARK THIRTY)
Chris Pratt made a name for himself as oddball Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. He was never afraid to make himself look stupid and was a master at providing some of the best-improvised lines on the show. No one would have taken him seriously as an action hero 10 years ago.
That all changed when Pratt played Justin, one of the members of Seal Team Six in Zero Dark Thirty. Pratt got himself into amazing shape for the part, proving that he wasn’t just a schlubby funny guy. Even though he gained all of the weight he lost back again, Pratt dropped it all again for Guardians of the Galaxy.
9. SCOTT HATTEBERG (MONEYBALL)
Moneyball starred Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics who utilized sabermetrics in order to build a winning team. The film also starred Jonah Hill in one of his first critically-acclaimed and Oscar-nominated roles. What audiences might forget about the film, though, is that it also featured Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg.
Hatteberg was a catcher who, after an injury weakened his throwing arm, was moved to first base when he was signed by Oakland. This was yet another role that Pratt had to get in shape for, showing that he is fully dedicated to the physical changes it takes to play certain parts.
8. KYLE MASTERSON (TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT)
Take Me Home Tonight is a mostly forgotten comedy starring Topher Grace as a guy who heads to a party to try and finally make a move on his high school crush. Also, the movie is set in the ’80s for no discernible reason (though it was written by the creators of That 70s Show). It co-starred future Fantastic Beasts sidekick Dan Fogler, Anna Faris, and in a role most people wouldn’t even know about, Chris Pratt.
Pratt plays Kyle Masterson, the host of the Labor Day party where Grace’s character, Matt, hopes to win over his crush. Take Me Home Tonight did not perform well with audiences or critics. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 27%, this is one of Pratt’s early roles you can feel free to skip.
7. FLETCHER (BRIDE WARS)
At this point, it’s hard to imagine Chris Pratt playing an unlikeable accountant, but that is exactly the role he took on in the 2009 film Bride Wars. The film (co-written by Greg DePaul, June Diane Raphael, and Casey Wilson) starred Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as Emma and Liv, two friends whose simultaneous weddings cause them to compete with each other.
Pratt played Fletcher, Emma’s fiance, who is a controlling accountant who becomes aggravated by Emma’s behavior leading up to their wedding. In the end, the two decide not to get married. The movie was a critical failure, but it is funny that Pratt and Hathaway both ended up appearing in separate superhero films (Guardians of the Galaxy and The Dark Knight Rises, respectively).
6. BARRY (WANTED)
Wanted is one of those movies that thrives on the ugliness of its characters, which is why it’s so strange that it includes Chris Pratt in one of his least likable roles. The film, based on a graphic novel by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, follows Wesley (James McAvoy) as he leaves his old life behind to join the Fraternity, a group of assassins.
Pratt plays Wesley’s “best friend” Barry, who is actually sleeping with Wesley’s girlfriend (a fact that Wesley is fully aware of). Pratt’s characters may not always make the best decisions (like Peter Quill punching Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War), but he has come a long way from playing the sort of characters that people enjoy seeing get hit in the face with a keyboard.
5. JOSH FARADAY (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN)
Audiences weren’t exactly clamoring for a remake of The Magnificent Seven, but they got one anyway in 2016. The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, revisited the tale of seven hired guns who take on the task of protecting a small town from an evil industrialist played by Peter Sarsgaard.
Chris Pratt played the role of Joshua Faraday, a smooth-talking gambler with a penchant for magic tricks (who also happens to be a pretty good shot). Pratt got some opportunity to imbue the role with his signature personality, but his performance felt low key when compared with some of his other work.
4. CHE (THE OC)
Anyone who was a teen in the early 2000s probably spent at least a little bit of time watching The OC, Fox’s popular teen drama that launched the careers of Ben McKenzie, Adam Brody, and Rachel Bilson. In the fourth and final season of the show, Chris Pratt played Ché, a recurring character who frequently proved that he was not such a great guy.
It’s strange now to see Pratt playing an activist college student with a rich father, considering how often he plays relatable and laidback (if not entirely easygoing) characters now. Ché not only proved that he was a fraud, but also that he was willing to sell people out to protect himself.
3. BRIGHT ABBOTT (EVERWOOD)
Everwood aired on the WB from 2002 to 2006 and starred Treat Williams as a neurosurgeon who moves his family to the small titular town in Colorado after the death of his wife. There, he grows closer to his son, while the entire family tries to navigate moving to a new town and starting a new life.
Chris Pratt played the role of Bright Abbott, the teenage son of a rival doctor in the town. He and his best friend, Colin, were in a car accident that left Colin in a coma. This was Pratt’s first regular role on a television show, and it was far different than the more comedic roles he would play later in his career.
2. DISGUSTING DONALD (WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?)
What’s Your Number? is a romantic comedy that featured performances from not one, but two actors who would later go on to appear in the MCU. The film stars Anna Faris as a woman who, with the help of her neighbor (played by future Captain America, Chris Evans) tracks down all of her exes to see if any of them could have been “the one.”
This search is inspired by a run-in with “Disgusting Donald,” an ex played by Chris Pratt who used to be overweight and slovenly. However, Donald cleaned himself up, got in shape, and got engaged (much like how Pratt actually went from schlubby TV funny guy to handsome leading man).
1. KEENAN (THE EXTREME TEAM)
Those who are huge fans of Chris Pratt’s work know that he really got his big break when he appeared in a little-known action film called The Extreme Team. There is very little information about this movie, though according to its IMDB page, it concerns a special ops team made up of extreme sports athletes going to New Zealand to save a team member.
This movie was Chris Pratt’s very first major role, and it completely turned things around for him. Before he appeared in the film, he had been living in a van, chasing his dream of being a professional actor.