Chris Pratt Wanted to Face Off Against Oprah in His Latest Film

Chris Pratt was, like, a big hit in my house for a long time. I loved him. He cracked me up on Parks & Rec, while also making me feel better about being, shall we say, schlubier (that’s not as much the case for either os us anymore, but Pratt overcorrected). Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorite MCU movies, and while many factors contribute to that, I’d be lying if I said Pratt didn’t crack me up and honestly deliver in all three films. But, over the last several years, he’s just gotten exhausting.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a bit more than just him choosing to voice characters that don’t match his vibe and scream “look at me, I’m fun,” like Mario and Garfield. I’m more than aware of his weird-ass wannabe Punisher character he’s currently playing on Amazon. There’s also the terrible church he attends, the stumping for RFK Jr. on Bill Maher’s frigging podcast, and the weird trad wife stuff. It’s wild to witness, and maybe I could pick something stronger than exhausted, but I’m too tired.

To add to Pratt’s abnoxious nature, we’ve been subjected to a series of interviews about his newest film, Mercy. From what I’ve read, it sounds like Minority Report but with AI. Instead of pre-cogs saying you are guilty, an AI does, and the guy who runs it or works for it or something (Pratt, here as Christopher Raven, which sounds like an Andy Dwyer character) finds himself in its crosshairs. The AI judge in this case is played by Rebecca Ferguson, which is a huge get. But that almost wasn’t the case.

Pratt revealed that, early on in the process, he suggested an AI actor play the judge, which was immediately shot down, and then agreed it was a bad idea. Obnoxiousness aside, I believe him on that. Brainstorming is the time to toss out bad ideas, but they can stay in the room. You don’t have to share them. Not only did Pratt recount this bad idea, but he topped it with another one. “But one of my pitches early on was like, ‘What if [my character] could pick the judge, and I could pick Oprah, or I could pick anyone I want,” Pratt recently explained to Entertainment Weekly. “Because ultimately it’s just a face on a [screen].’ And I thought that would be funny to have Oprah do it.”

Sure, Chris! Again, no bad ideas in brainstorming, but Jebus. The most striking thing about this suggestion is that he thought it would be funny, because the film seems… very not funny. Just a super serious future cop thing where, again, the character’s name is Chris Raven. If it were some giant parody film, go nuts! But suggesting Oprah just because the character can pick whatever he wants is lame. But, I wouldn’t even know that if Pratt would stop saying whatever inane stuff pops into his head. However, if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be the worst Chris (sorry, James Gunn, but it’s true).