Chris Pratt Initially 'Refused' to Audition for Guardians of the Galaxy , Says Casting Director

Chris Pratt brought his own spin on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but he wasn’t always keen on playing the role.

Sarah Finn, the casting director responsible for the A-list stars of 22 Marvel films, told Variety at the Avengers: Endgame premiere on Monday that Pratt, 39, was hesitant to even audition for the role of Peter Quill/Star-Lord.

“[Director] James Gunn has been very generous about this in saying that I, to the point of annoying him, kept insisting that Chris Pratt was the guy for the part,” Finn said. “But Chris didn’t want to play the part and refused to audition.”

She continued, “I finally got him to audition and James Gunn said he didn’t want to see him, and that was really a challenge.”

When Finn finally got Pratt and Gunn together, she said, “It was honestly one of those eureka moments that we talk about in casting when it absolutely feels right and you know it’s right. James turned to me within 10 seconds and said, ‘He’s the guy.'”

“It was great when he decided he was interested,” Finn added of Pratt accepting the role. “Now it’s legend, he’s the perfect person.”

While Pratt has starred in two of the Guardians films, as well as two Avengers films, Finn said she couldn’t fault him for not being interested at first.

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“At the time we were embarking on a movie that had a raccoon and a talking tree, and a property that people weren’t familiar with,” she said.

Chris Pratt | Christopher Polk/Getty
Chris Pratt | Christopher Polk/Getty

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For his part, Pratt was all smiles at Monday night’s premiere where he made his red carpet debut with fiancé Katherine Schwarzenegger.

Finn has helped cast over 1,000 roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was currently working on The Eternals, which is rumored to star Angelina Jolie.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters Friday.