Entertainment

Chris Pratt is Swimsuit Season's Best Friend

by Celeste Mora

Chris Pratt is already raking in well-deserved praise for his role as Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy. As Parks and Rec fans already knew, he's hilarious and charming, with just a dash of emotional depth. Guardians may have been a film bound by genre, but Chris brought his game face when portraying Star-Lord. But before the Internet knew how wonderful his action-star chops would be, it was unfairly focused on his looks. Since Pratt posted a shirtless picture on Instagram in 2013 with the caption "Six months no beer. #GOTG Kinda douchey to post this but my brother made me," interviewers have needled him about his diet and exercise plan. Many outlets have even gone so far as to publish the details so fans could emulate his (extreme) weight loss regime.

Luckily, Pratt is ready to strike back. In an interview on The Late Show, Letterman made an offhanded remark about Pratt "being a guy who takes care of himself pretty well," to which Pratt interjected "no I am not." He then went on to reveal that his weight pre-movie was 290 pounds, raising it by 100 pounds every time Letterman gaffed at the supposed absurdity of that number. He also revealed a secret most starts gloss over: the grueling work he had to put in to "get in shape" for the movie.

He explains he had a network of trainers, body-shamers, and overbearing producers that could only be described as the deepest circle of weight loss hell. It's refreshing to see a male star push back on the accepted beefcake image, and to hear any star say that they struggled to lose weight is oddly revelatory. Also, Pratt promised that his traditionally-toned physique will "quickly go away" after the movie in a way that shows he doesn't give two Groots about opinions on his weight.

Hopefully the vicious sharks of celebrity Twitter body-shaming will calm down, because Pratt is ready to stand up for himself.