Anna Faris and Chris Pratt's Marriage: Destroyed by Fame?

Why being part of a Hollywood power couple is a "tricky" business

By Zach Johnson Aug 07, 2017 2:15 PMTags

Fame hasn't always been kind to Anna Faris.

After the Scary Movie actress married fellow actor Ben Indra in 2004, her movie career only got hotter, thanks to scene-stealing roles in movies like Brokeback Mountain and Just Friends. Ben's career, in comparison, seemingly stalled. "That kind of destroyed my marriage," Anna, who divorced Ben in 2007, confessed to Marie Claire four years later. "The divide became too great."

Perhaps the same can be said of her eight-year marriage to Chris Pratt.

When Anna began dating Chris, whom she wed in July 2009, she was unquestionably the bigger star. "I've had those moments, where I was like the guy holding the purse at events and people just looked right through me. And, you know, actors come up and just blatantly hit on my wife in front of me and don't even look at me," he told GQ in 2015. "I'm like, 'What the f--k, dude?'"

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Chris was cognizant of how being part of a power couple could affect their relationship. "I think it's something you have to manage. It's a little different, because she's achieved enough to hang her hat on for her life, anyways," Chris said. "She's done really amazing things. She's always gonna be known for really funny and great work, critically acclaimed work and successful stuff."

The balance of power began to shift in 2014, when Chris became an international movie star thanks to his leading role in Guardians of the Galaxy. No one was prouder of Chris' success than Anna, who had given birth to their son, Jack Pratt, in August 2012. And as he booked bigger roles in movies like Jurassic World, The Lego Movie and Passengers, she found success on the small screen in Mom, in addition to making cameos in comedies like 22 Jump Street and Keanu.

Given their high-profile projects and propensities for giving gushy sound bites about each other, it was only a matter of time before the tabloids starting dissecting their marriage. "I had always kind of believed that part of the rumors of celebrity couples were sort of true because they had never been part of my life. I was like, 'Oh, maybe there's a kernel of truth to that. It's been a little devastating, because for us, it's like, 'What the heck?' This has been blindsiding to us," Anna told Us Weekly in 2015. "We have an incredible relationship. It's been weirdly stinging."

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The Story of How Anna Faris and Chris Pratt Fell in Love
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Months later, she told Us Weekly they tried as best they could to create a sense of normalcy for themselves and Jack. "We spend a lot of time at home building fires and just cooking and just being together. Just enjoying the simple times, too. Now that Chris is, like, a crazy huge movie star, going out is just a whole different thing. It's just a whole different weird. We look at each other sometimes and we're like, 'Oh, my God.' Because it feels very surreal sometimes, since we both grew up in Washington State," Anna said. "We just are sort of cherishing these times."

And yet, the reports of marital strife continued. "We grapple with the idea of being a public couple. For the first time, maybe a year ago or 10 months ago, we were in the public a little bit. There were some tabloid rumors about strain on our relationship. I just remember feeling so hurt in a way that bothered me because I didn't want to think of myself as somebody that could be affected by tabloid s--t. There was a picture of me walking alone on the beach: 'Aging Anna Faris, Alone on the Beach,'" the Scary Movie star said on her Unqualified podcast in December 2016. "I take pride in how great my relationship is with Chris. Having said that, of course, in this crazy world where he's off doing movies and I'm in L.A. raising our child, of course I'm going to feel vulnerable, like any normal human would. It did make me feel like, 'Is public perception— even though it's false—is there a grain of something?' It made me feel incredibly insecure."

Distance kept them apart for long stretches at a time, but Chris never stopped letting his wife know much she meant to him. During his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in April, for example, the actor gushed, "You've given me so much. You gave me the greatest star in the galaxy in my little boy. I love him and I love you. We have bonded to make this molecule that is more important to me than air or water, and without it none of this means anything to me."

"With every challenge, with every day, week, month, decade, we become more bonded. You make me laugh like nobody else. You're very caring, and thank you for your trust and your sacrifice—and for your dedication and your heart. I will do my best to protect it, and in return I will give you all of those things as well," he said. "You have my heart, my dedication, my trust."

But when Anna spoke to People just a few weeks ago (while promoting The Emoji Movie), she again admitted that fame had changed the dynamic of her marriage to CHris. "I don't think that's something, when you're an actor, that you're prepared for," she said. "There are two different roles that you play—the one on-camera and the one in public. That's the tricky part."

Because of they love they shared, Anna and Chris will remain on good terms post-split. "We tried hard for a long time, and we're really disappointed. Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep this situation as private as possible moving forward," the exes said in a joint statement Sunday. "We still have love for each other, will always cherish our time together and continue to have the deepest respect for one another."