Hollywood has anointed a new King and Queen of Comedy. Chris Pratt and Anna Faris have taken all the right steps to claim the throne of the funny kingdom. The happy couple didn’t always consider themselves class clowns growing up, Faris in Seattle and Pratt in Minnesota. In fact, neither one seriously pursued an acting career. Faris was an education major who moved to Paris after graduation and Pratt was more interested in sports and hunting, having moved to Hawaii to work as a waiter at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company when he was 19. However, Fate often has powerful ways of changing one’s plans.
While living in England, Anna was offered a role in a small indie horror feature called, Lover’s Lane. The film was a bomb, but it ignited a love of performing for Anna and she soon found herself picking up and moving to Los Angeles. While there, she quickly signed with a good agency that allowed her to audition and land the lead role in Keenen Ivory Wayans surprise hit, Scary Movie. This cinematic work amazingly turned out to be a huge success in the box office, scoring more than $278 million in its total worldwide gross, automatically propelling Faris to global fame in a blink of an eye. Her comedic chops now fully on display, leads her on to roles in The House Bunny, Waiting, Just Friends, and three Scary Movie sequels. She has also been ranked in Maxim’s Top 100 on three different occasions, was ranked No. 60 in FHM’s (For Him Magazine) “100 Sexiest Women in the World,” and in 2010, Cosmopolitan magazine named her “the Cosmo’s Fun Fearless Female of the Year” – stating that “She makes us laugh – and cringe – by pushing the limits of comedy in a way no other actress can.” Tad Friend described her in The New Yorker as “Hollywood’s most original comic actress.”
Meanwhile in Hawaii, Chris Pratt went to work like any other day, except on this day, actress Rae Dawn Chong walked into Bubba Gump’s and was served by a charming Chris Pratt. She was so impressed with his personality that she cast him in the comic horror movie she was writing-directing, Cursed Part 3. Although the movie never quite saw the light of day, the experience convinced Pratt to move to Los Angeles.
He found work playing small bit parts on television shows until finally getting a substantial role in the Treat Williams’ series Everwood. For his fan favorite performance as Bright Abbott, Pratt received two Teen Choice Award nominations. On the show, his sister was played by Emily Van Camp, and the two actors fell in love off-screen, causing a minor scandal that bothered fans more than those who actually worked on the show. The two would break up a few years later. After Everwood’s cancellation, Pratt joined the cast of The O.C. for its fourth season, playing Ché, an activist. He also appeared in the action film Wanted, as James McAvoy’s character’s best friend. His biggest role would follow as the dim-witted Andy Dwyer on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Originally intended as a six-episode guest starring role, Pratt’s performance was so well received, they made him a series regular by the second season. Future film roles followed, including Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty, and the romantic comedy, Take Me Home Tonight—the film that would unite him with his future bride.
“I married way out of my pay grade. I have no idea how that happened. She’s so goddamn funny and so good. She is a legit comedy powerhouse. But I’m not going to question it too much. I don’t know what it is, man. I guess chicks dig love handles or something.”—Chris Pratt
The couple became engaged in January of 2009 and married on July 9, in a small ceremony in Bali. Faris recently gave birth to a baby boy named Jack on August 25, 2012. Despite the newborn, the couple are as busy as ever working on new projects. Pratt was recently cast as the lead role of Peter Quill / Star-Lord in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, and Faris will try to fill the shoes of Goldie Hawn in the remake of Private Benjamin.
“I have the sweetest husband. He makes me feel good at any weight,” said Faris after her post baby birth. “In fact, I kinda think that he likes it when my butt is a little bit bigger.”
This young couple has quite the career ahead of them and a strong foundation built on love. There love and laughter should thrill audiences for many years to come.