Peggy Sirota/GQChris Pratt might be in peak physical shape after Guardians of the Galaxy, but Parks and Recreation fans know that he wasn't always rocking six-pack abs. The lovable Andy Dwyer was chubby in the most endearing way possible, and we loved him that way. But after awhile it just wasn't realistic anymore.
"My bones ached, I had cardiovascular issues, I was unhealthy, I was feeling rotten," the Jurassic World actor, 35, tells GQ's June issue.
So while his superhero role gave him the opportunity to transform his body, he worried that he wouldn't be as funny as he was during his Parks and Rec days. Attracted to the appeal of making people laugh, Pratt admits he intentionally gained weight to impress viewers.
"I saw myself and I thought, 'Wow, I'm getting fat.' And then immediately I was like, 'This is the funniest...' I was making myself laugh. I was: 'That's where it's at. There's no one doing that. No one being like a super-confident dumb fat guy.' So I started," he explains to the magazine.
"So I just got fatter," he says, "and the laughs kept coming, and it was funnier and funnier. And in that moment I was like, 'Oh great, I found my niche—this is paying better than the a--hole-boyfriend parts.'"
Although he loved the reception he received while getting "fatter," Anna Faris' husband admits that there is a fine line between being outwardly funny and inwardly depressed. He also knows that his character on the sitcom had a certain realistic appeal to it.
"I also understood that there was value to it—my comedic nature understood the irony of a super-happy fat sweaty guy who is completely confident and accepting of who he was. That's fascinating to people," he tells the publication.
"I mean, I was never as big as Chris Farley, but you look at Chris Farley—that's what made him so magical. Because other people look just like him, and they're like, 'Why is this guy not crippled with self-doubt? F--k, that's awesome. I wish I could feel that way.' Well, I don't think Chris Farley did feel that way," he adds.
A comedian himself, Pratt believes that Farley, who was as famous for his comedy as he was his weight, hid his self-doubt from the world. "I think he killed himself with drugs and alcohol and buried himself in an addiction to hide the fact that he didn't feel what he was projecting on the outside. I think that's often the case with comedians."
Although he physically and emotionally feels better about himself and his weight now, Pratt confesses that he thinks his wife thought he was more fun with a little extra meat on his bones.
"I think I was outwardly having more fun. I was more fun to be around, probably," he admits. "That image that I was casting, to convince people that I was okay, was a really fun person to hang around. Now I have less fun. I focus more. She doesn't get to cook for me the way she used to. I was like a great pet fat guy."
We'll take you however we can get you, Chris!