The highest grossing film of 2014, so far, is Guardians of the Galaxy, which has made $330 million. Much of Guardians’ appeal, of course, was because Chris Pratt absolutely nailed the role. Most people know about his road to the part: Director James Gunn didn’t even want to see him, but the film’s casting director insisted, and once Gunn saw him, he knew Pratt was perfect for Peter Quill (once he lost 60 pounds, although according to Gunn, he liked Pratt so much that the weight-loss wasn’t a deal breaker).
But before Pratt auditioned, there were a ton of other actors who tried out for the role, including: Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Jensen Ackles, Lee Pace, Wes Bentley, Jack Huston, Cam Gigandet, Sullivan Stapleton, Logan Marshall-Green, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Lowell, James Marsden, Jim Sturgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aaron Paul, Michael Rosenbaum, and John Krasinski.
But the runner-up to Pratt may be surprising to you: Glenn Howerton from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, who told Splitsider last year that he auditioned for the role: “I did audition recently for Guardians of the Galaxy to play the role Chris Pratt is playing,” he said. “And I know the director of that movie is supposedly a big Sunny fan, which is cool.” (Howerton also admitted he auditioned for the Superman reboot in 2006. Bullet dodged.)
Howerton may not have realized how close he was to landing the role, however. According to Gunn in the cover story on GQ’s Man of the Year, Chris Pratt, Howerton was in serious consideration. “Glenn came along a little bit later,” he said, “but there was a good chance that, if I didn’t cast Chris, that I would’ve cast Glenn Howerton in the role.”
Obviously, Pratt was the right choice, but Howerton would’ve been great, too, and there would’ve been no need to trim any of the weight. He’s already in game shape.
Source: GQ
