Did you know Chris Pratt smokes cigars? I did not know that. Apparently, he smokes cigars a lot while he’s filming, and he doesn’t even care if he’s indoors where smoking is not allowed. He calls it his “one diva thing” which… I wonder. I suspect Pratt is not a diva in the sense of “WAAH, I will not work until someone brings me a bottle of Evian!” But then again, he’s also the guy who operates with an enormous amount of privilege in Hollywood and he barely even realizes it or acknowledges it. Here are some highlights from his Cigar Aficionado cover story:
Smoking cigars while filming ‘Guardians’ in England: “The Brits are so polite. There I am, smoking these little cigars on the set and it is, in fact, illegal. But they were so reluctant to finally say, ‘I’m very sorry, but I’m afraid it’s against the law.’ And I said, ‘No, no, that’s cool—just tell me when the cops come.’ Hey, I show up on time, I know my stuff. It’s like, my one diva thing.”
He doesn’t take photos with fans: “I’ve always been a pretty deferential, go-with-the-flow guy. But now I have to be economical with my time. If I go out and want to do normal things, I have to be comfortable disappointing people. I just don’t take pictures with people. Because that’s not about enjoying the moment; it’s about stealing the moment to brag about later. So, I say, ‘Would you settle for a handshake?’ And then they take the picture anyway.”
He misses interacting with regular people: “It’s tough sometimes, the amount of management you need to do on things you used to do spontaneously. What I really miss is sitting down and talking to strangers who don’t know me, so we can discover each other. I’d say the majority of people I meet have an idea about me before they meet me. There’s something nice to being able to surprise somebody.”
Getting ripped for Zero Dark Thirty: “I’ve learned not to overestimate how deep the audience is — that, as an actor, a big part of it is looking as good as you can.”
Being famous: “There was this moment when I was at a party and Barbra Streisand and Jim Carrey both came up to me to tell me they loved what I’d done. Streisand asked me, ‘How does it feel? You’re this year’s big thing.’ Jim Carrey told me the same thing. That was when those people stopped being my icons and became my peers.”
“And I said, ‘No, no, that’s cool—just tell me when the cops come.’” Yeah, that’s not the way it works. Am I the only one who thought that came across poorly? There are building-code and workplace-regulations for a reason. I imagine those polite British people were actually quite irritated that Pratt was stinking up their studio with his cigar smoke, and of course a lowly PA or key grip isn’t going to “call the cops” on the big movie star. As I said, he doesn’t understand his own privilege and it’s a huge problem. As for not posing for photos with fans… eh. I can’t believe how many celebrities are talking about that these days. It’s like the latest celebrity cause du jour. Is that all they have to talk about?
Photos courtesy of WENN and Joe/WENN.
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