“Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt was asked about the criticism he has received from people for being outspoken about his faith in Jesus. Pratt fielded the question at a recent Cinema Society screening for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which opened in theaters on May 5.
During an interview at the screening, Page Six reporter, Nicki Gostin, told Pratt that she admired him for being open about his faith. She then used some colorful language to describe criticism Pratt has received and asked him if it’s “a hard thing to do”—remaining faithful to his beliefs despite the naysayers.
“Oh, yes, I sure do, but it’s nothing new,” the blockbuster actor replied. “If I was of this world they would love me just like that.”
Pratt told the reporter, “But as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world. That’s John 15:18-20.”
The passage Pratt cited was the account of Jesus warning the disciples that the world would hate them for following him because they hated him first:
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
He continued, “That’s the way it is, nothing new — 2,000 years ago, they hated [Jesus], too.”
The 43-year-old actor explained how he handles those who object to his faith, among other challenges, saying, “Oh, just how you deal with anything,” he said. “Like a rhino, stick your head down, you keep driving forward, you have thick skin…”
Pratt made headlines for his acceptance award speech at the 2018 MTV Movie TV Awards because he gave the audience and those watching the broadcast throughout the world “9 Rules for Life.” Two of those rules were “God is real. God loves you. He wants the best for you. Believe that. I do,” and “Learn to pray. It’s easy, and it’s so good for your soul.”
It was in that same year that Pratt met his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, in church while he was in the process of finalizing his divorce from his then-wife, Anna Faris.
“I was in the front row of church—which is like, you kind of don’t want to be like, ‘Woah, who’s that?’ at church. You know what I mean?” Pratt jokingly said while on The Drew Barrymore Show earlier this year. “But I was sneaking some glances and wondering, ‘Who is that? Anyway, what am I doing? Come on, I’m broken, help me. But who’s that?’”
Although the two didn’t start dating when they met, Pratt said that when they did everything “just made sense.”
“God has a fast-forward button, you know,” he said. “When it’s right—boom!—you’re hit. You fall in love, you get married. Now we have two beautiful daughters to add to my family, and it feels really great.”
Pratt credited his marriage to Schwarzenegger to God’s timing and perfect plan. “It’s all about timing,” Pratt said. “There’s a perfect plan out there for you. And I think you have to have faith. The minute you have faith, it falls into place.”
He and Schwarzenegger were married in June 2019 and have two daughters. Pratt also shares a son with Faris.