Typecasting Made It Hard For Chris Pratt To Break Into The Comedy Scene Before Parks And Recreation

During the AMA with Chris Pratt, he noted that more opportunities opened up for him after putting on the weight. “They never let me improv or do comedy [for the jerk roles],” he said. “It wasn’t until I built a schlubby exterior, which stood in stark contrast to my inner confidence that people gave me room to play.” 

To be frank, I have some pretty harsh critiques of Pratt’s idea that inner confidence must be a “stark contrast” to a schlubby exterior (that I will keep to myself for everyone’s benefit), but it’s unsurprising that casting agents were more comfortable with Pratt trying comedy once he stopped looking like a leading man. Hollywood notoriously has no idea what to do when conventionally attractive actors are also hilarious, falsely believing that humor can only be enjoyed if someone is “relatable” or an already established household name.

The cruel irony, of course, is that Pratt only became a superstar after shedding his Andy Dwyer image and becoming a beefy superhero. They even wrote Andy’s new look into an episode of “Parks and Recreation,” as the show was still running as Pratt was becoming one of the biggest names in the industry. Now, in the body that originally held back his career, the world is his oyster, and he’s been popping up everywhere — for better or worse.