Chris Pratt had goals for his “Parks & Recreation” role: he wanted to gain more weight to play Andy Dwyer to make the character funnier. Pratt made the admission on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast this week.
Pratt told Maher that he had all but stopped working out before he booked the role and had “never seen myself look so fat.” He noted that it was also the “funniest I think I’ve ever been.” So he decided to gain even more weight.
“I went to the showrunner, Mike Schur, and I said, ‘Two things. One, I’m getting fat. Two, I want to get much fatter,’” Pratt said. “And he goes, ‘Great.’ And so I just pushed it. I was like, ‘How fat can I get?’ It became like a challenge. I was, like, eating four burgers at mealtime. I was really impressing everybody and I was really diving into this super indulgent season in my life.”
Pratt has often changed his body for roles over the years, and notably lost a lot of weight during the sixth season of the series after he landed the part of Peter Quill/Star Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Now, he maintains his taut physique by eating “boring” things like vegetables, chicken and rice. He compared meals “stopping at the gas station” filling the take to the bare minimum. Pratt added he is happier not eating processed foods and refined sugars.
In the same interview Pratt admitted he and his in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr., don’t speak about politics. “I’ve spent a number of occasions hanging with him just in a strictly family dinner kind of vibe, and I really got along with him well,” he explained.
I think he’s great. I think he’s funny. He’s wonderful. I like him—yes, I love him,” he said.
He continued: “Politics is a nasty business. When you jump in, you inherit enemies. And I’ve seen—even though I’m not in politics, obviously—that Hollywood itself is political in its own way. I’ve seen how the person you are can be in stark contrast to the person people are told that you are. […] When you jump on the bandwagon with, you know, who’s the most divisive president ever, it makes sense that you’re going to be made to look terrible.”
You can watch Chris Pratt’s full “Club Random” interview in the video above.
