Movies Superhero Movies
Marvel Studios
ByWitney Seibold
The antagonist of James Gunn's 2017 sci-fi epic "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2" is an ineffable space deity called Ego (Kurt Russell). True to his name, Ego is a narcissist who only sees the universe as disposable fodder for recreating his own image. Ego is a powerful living planet, and can psychically manipulate matter to his will. He has spent many, many centuries projecting humanoid versions of himself around the cosmos, impregnating women and creating countless offspring. Ego hopes that one of his children will inherit his godlike powers, and then join those powers together to terraform the planet they came from. The new planet would be yet another extension of Ego.
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is initially glad to have found his long-lost father and is astonished to learn that he is only half-human. Peter finds that he does have some cosmic powers, but balks when Ego reveals his ultimate plan. The film will end with father and son facing off against one another on the surface of Ego's massive brain.
"Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2" is explicitly about what it's like to grow up with a self-absorbed parent. While the film is far too long (it's 136 minutes), visually busy, and narratively very messy, audience members latched onto its emotional themes. It was a huge hit, as films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe tended to be in the '10s.
Perhaps without realizing it, Kurt Russell, in playing the father of Pratt's character, began offering fatherly advice to Pratt. Russell is a Hollywood veteran, having been a professional actor since age 12. He has ridden many waves of fame from his teen years to the present and is beloved to this day. According to Pratt in a recent interview with Comicbook.com, his co-star reminded him to slow down his career occasionally.
Russell's work-life balance
Marvel Studios
Russell has long endeavored to strike a balance between his work and his personal life. He has been in a romantic relationship with actress Goldie Hawn since 1983, and the two have an arrangement. One of them will take an acting job, while the other stays at home with the kids, and then they'll take turns. They will never be working on a film at the same time. Russell is also a rustic soul, preferring life out in the country as opposed to the big city.
It seems that Pratt is a similarly rustic soul, and he and Russell were able to bond over their mutual ungulate ownership. The two had many opportunities to converse, as they shared a lot of screentime, and had to work out their characters' mutual relationship with each other. In the film, the two characters ultimately had an antagonistic relationship, but the two actors were nothing but copacetic. Pratt said:
"We would spend a lot of time together. We just have so much in common. [...] His advice was to make sure I focus enough attention on the things in my life that I'm passionate about that aren't my career. He and I both like to be outdoors. He's got a cattle ranch, I've got a cattle ranch. [...] And so he was talking about how important that was to him and carving out his own little piece of the world that was away from the Hollywood world, [and] to maintain perspective in that."
When he's not working on movies, Russell tends to his ranch and his winery, Gogi Wines.
Working with Kurt Russell
Marvel Studios
Pratt, meanwhile, was born in Minnesota and spent years working odd jobs— and being homeless— in Maui and Miami. He didn't start acting professionally until age 19, when actress Rae Dawn Chong spotted him waiting tables. He moved to L.A. in 1999 to star in a short film she directed, and his career took off. He starred in the TV series "Everwood," appeared on "The O.C.," and had a small role in the feature film "Wanted." When he picked up a starring role in the hit sitcom "Parks & Recreation," his career hit a high, and he's been a massive star ever since. He currently lives in Brentwood.
In an interview with /Film, Pratt reiterated that he loved working with Russell and that he even asked Russell to be his dad in real life. Pratt was effusive, saying:
"For me, there are actors that I loved growing up— there's a handful of them— and he is absolutely right at the top of that list, and has not once done anything to disappoint the inner child in me who was so excited when he got cast. He's really cool. He's absolutely an artist. Even though he's kind of the 'everyman' kind of a character, he's really an artist and he really cares deeply about all of the details of his character. We're really kindred spirits I think."
Pratt also said that both he and Russell can be described as "just kind of like a blue-collar type of dude, American actor." They both love the outdoors and hunting. "I just really, really love him. I'm in love with Kurt Russell."
Russell's Ego was killed in "Guardians, Vol. 2," and Pratt seems to have retired Peter Quill at the end of "Guardians, Vol. 3." time will tell if they reunite.
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