James Gunn Clarifies Chris Pratt F-Bomb Comments

Earlier saw Chris Pratt talk about his Marvel contract which may hint at an appearance in The Avengers: Infinity War movies.

The article also saw Pratt mention how director James Gunn motivated him on set, with than more than a few times Gunn dropping the f-bomb.

Via GQ:

“I think that he had gotten a lot of success over the past few years being the funny sidekick,” says Gunn, “which means that he always has to juggle to entertain everybody. And the truth is, Chris didn’t trust himself to just be Chris Pratt—and how desirable that is to an audience.”

“I thought I was bad,” Pratt concurs. “I thought I was doing bad acting. I would just think: My bullshit meter’s going off. This screams inauthentic to me.” Pratt says that Gunn had little patience with this. “He’s like, ‘Who gives a sh-t what you think? I don’t f—ing care!’ “

He’d literally say that?

“Yes! He’d be, ‘It’s not your f—ing movie, dude, it’s mine! Trust me and shut the f— up and do what the f— I tell you, and scream it!’ He’s like, ‘More! Louder!’ I would get pissy because as an actor, you sometimes hate that direction: Louder, faster. But it’s true—sometimes you have to be louder, speak more clearly, let the words do the work, and just get out of the way.”

Now Gunn has taken to his Facebook page to offer the following:

Nice GQ article on Chris, in which I’m heavily quoted and there is a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 talk. Although I’m often very honest in articles about myself, I’m usually much more careful when I am interviewed about others. You never know what someone else is sensitive about. This was probably the most honest I’ve been in an interview about an actor, and both Chris and I talk about how he would initially tend to get in the way with his thoughts on set (and also the accompanying self-judgments). I’d yell at him and tell him I didn’t give a sh-t what he thinks. It seems kind of mean and funny in the interview, but I think it’s an important thing for all artists to remember: IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK. What matters is the work and the act of creation. It is our job to DO, not to judge. Constant assessment of what we are doing, especially while we are doing it, creates a stilted and needy piece of artwork, when the world needs boldness. If you’re a true artist, the world needs YOU, not what you think you should be.

My job with Chris on set was to help get him out of his head. Chris was able to transform his way of acting throughout the making of Guardians and I’m really proud of what he’s done (and, like him, I get teary when I think of what we’ve got coming in GotG2.)

It’s all good as the two are reteaming for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and likely a third Guardians film.