Actor Chris Pratt Says He Draws Inspiration From Jesus to Deal With Criticism Over Christian Faith

U.S. actor Chris Pratt attends the premiere of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" at The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 12, 2018. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Actor and star of “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World” Chris Pratt has spoken out about the criticism he has faced due to his Christian faith, revealing how he handles the hate he receives.

In an interview with Page Six on May 8, the 43-year-old actor was asked about the backlash he has dealt with due to being outspoken about his faith.

Quoting a biblical scripture, Pratt said: “If I was of this world, they would love me just like that, but as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world. That’s John 15:18 through 20.”

Pratt added that when it comes to dealing with the hate he receives, he has developed a “thick skin” and often turns to the life of Jesus Christ for inspiration.

“That’s the way it is, nothing new; 2,000 years ago, they hated him, too,” he said.

Pratt told Esquire in 2014 that he was introduced to religion when he was 19 while waiting for somebody to buy him and his friend alcoholic drinks in Hawaii, as they were too young to purchase the drinks themselves.

The actor said that a man approached him and asked what he planned to do that day, before telling Pratt that he was destined to achieve “great things” in life, which ultimately saw him embark on a new path.

Pratt on Discovering Christianity

“In Maui, about four weeks before I was discovered to go to California, I was hanging with my buddy. I wasn’t quite old enough to drink, so we got somebody to go in and buy us some alcohol,” he said.

“This guy came by and was like, ‘What are you doing tonight?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I dunno. I was just gonna wait out here. My friends are gonna buy me a bottle of Carlo Rossi and a sixer of Milwaukee’s Best Ice.’

“He was like, ‘I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you. He said to tell you you’re destined for great things.’ My friends came out, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go with this guy.’ I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days. I was stuffing envelopes for his organization, Jews for Jesus. I’m not even sure, at that age—I was nineteen years old—I knew what Jewish was,” he explained.

A month after discovering God, Pratt was discovered by a director and moved to California to star in the 2000 horror comedy “Cursed Part III,” kicking off his Hollywood career.

Pratt has regularly been outspoken about his religious beliefs throughout his career, telling a packed MTV Movie & TV Awards crowd in 2018: “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that—I do.”

During that same speech, in which he accepted the Generation Award, Pratt revealed his “nine rules” for life, featuring Christian guidance.

“You are imperfect. You always will be. But there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift,” he said.

“Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood. Do not forget that. Don’t take that for granted.”

Fans Attempt to ‘Cancel’ Pratt

Pratt has often faced criticism due to his beliefs. In 2019, he faced calls from Marvel fans to be replaced as “Star-Lord” in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies when fellow Hollywood star and transgender Ellen Page claimed that Pratt’s church, Hillsong Church, was ”infamously anti-LGBTQ.”

At the time, Pratt released a statement saying that Page’s claim couldn’t “be further from the truth.”

“I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone,” the actor wrote on his official Instagram account, NBC News reported.

In 2020, Pratt faced backlash again when he decided to opt out of a virtual Q&A held by several “Avengers” stars to raise money for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s campaign, which led some fans to believe he may be a supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Pratt has not publicly spoken about his political affiliation and has donated to both Democratic and Republican parties in the past, Vox reports.

The “Avengers” director, Joe Russo, subsequently defended Pratt’s no-show at the virtual event, telling NowThis News in an interview that the actor was not asked to take part in the Q&A due to an issue with the time zone, as Pratt had been filming in the UK.

Russo said that fans’ assumptions about Pratt’s politics, integrity, and “who he is as a person” were false.

Speaking to Page Six in the May 8 interview, Pratt credited his previous job as a door-to-door salesman for helping him to learn how to deal with rejection.

“You can’t turn me away; there’s no stopping us,” he said.