Do we like Chris Pratt?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent record and no campaigning against anyone, with a contested public-health stance and one clumsy gendered slur this year.
Pratt was born in Virginia, Minnesota, the youngest of three, and grew up in Lake Stevens, Washington. He was waiting tables in Maui when actor-director Rae Dawn Chong cast him in a short film, which got him started. From there it was Everwood, The O.C., and then Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation.
Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 and Jurassic World in 2015 turned the lovable goof into a blockbuster lead. His biggest run-ins since then have been less about what he has said and more about what the internet decided he must think. That is a pattern worth keeping in mind as you read the rest.
The best-known stoush was in 2019. Ellen Page called his church infamously anti-LGBTQ after his Colbert appearance. Pratt replied on Instagram that nothing could be further from the truth, said the church opens its doors to everyone, and added he is not a spokesman for any church. Critics noted he never addressed the church's stated views directly. Years later, Guardians director James Gunn publicly defended him against calls to replace him.
In 2021 screenshots of racist and sexist tweets attributed to him went viral. His spokesperson said he never posted them and called the claims defamatory, and Twitter reportedly believed them to be fake. It is a reminder that some of the pile-ons against him were built on fakes.
The harm check is where he picks up his asterisk. In August 2025 he told Bill Maher's podcast that his relative RFK Jr. is funny and wonderful, and he backed the push to remove harmful chemicals from kids' food. PinkNews noted that Kennedy has sought to defund LGBTQ+ health research, including HIV research. Pratt also said he doesn't know what to believe about Kennedy's reported policies. Where you land depends on whether you read that as family loyalty or as cover for a man with a poor public-health record.
Then there was January. At the Mercy premiere he told Variety the Tilly Norwood AI-actress hype was nonsense, using a gendered slur to say it. Some fans called it casual misogyny, others said he was bagging software and not a woman. His 2024 election column, which urged people not to be too paralysed by defeat or too pompous in victory, was also met with eye-rolls.