‘We’ve come so far’: Chris Pratt in his big speech on final day of filming Guardians Of The Galaxy

Chris Pratt was not going to let something like asking for permission stop him from making a speech.

It was the final day of filming for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 in mid-2022, and the American actor felt he needed to say something to the cast and crew. After all, it was the final instalment in a Marvel Cinematic Universe science-fiction superhero trilogy about the band of outlaws and mercenaries.

During a joke-filled virtual press conference in Los Angeles moderated by Canadian-American actor Nathan Fillion – who has a supporting role in the film – Pratt, 43, who plays half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy Peter Quill/Star-Lord, is asked if anybody wanted him to make a speech.

“I don’t know if they wanted me to say something, but they weren’t going to stop me,” he says.

It might have sounded trite, he admits, as it was about avoiding the regret of not having one’s mind focused on the joys of daily existence.

“One day, looking back, I might think, ‘Why did I let that go by without trying to enjoy every moment?’” he says.

“I wanted to be the guy who reminded everyone of how far we’d come”, partly because when the first film was released in 2014, some critics said it was going to break the Marvel Studios box-office winning streak.

“I read a few reviews from people who said that Guardians was going to be the first big flop,” he recalls.

Those stinging words “ended up in my notes for the past nine years”. He went through the same “emotional” ride with his sitcom Parks And Recreation (2009 to 2015), so he wanted to put that experience to use, he says.

“It was important that I be present and coerce other people into being present. That was a sort of responsibility that I felt I had,” he says.

 

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Thursday, Vol. 3 takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love And Thunder (2022) and Disney+ streaming projects featuring the Guardians.

The crew are going about their lives when they come under attack from a mysterious organisation.

The attackers are led by the High Evolutionary (played by Nigerian-British actor Chukwudi Iwuji), a scientist who created Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a raccoon-like creature who forms part of the Guardians team.

Rounding up the gang cast are Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as Groot, Pom Klementieff as Mantis and Karen Gillan as Nebula.

Vol. 3 is also American writer-director James Gunn’s last hurrah with Marvel, after helming all three films. In 2022, Warner Bros Discovery hired him and Peter Safran to become co-chairmen and co-chief executives of DC Studios.

Compared with Pratt, Klementieff, 36, had a far more emotional moment when Vol. 3 wrapped. The French actress ran into the bathroom and burst into tears during a flight, according to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, 49.

 

Her travel companions – Mr Feige, Pratt and Gillan – were at first confused by the sudden outburst, as it took place just moments after Pratt spilled coffee on Klementieff’s designer purse.

Everyone assumed that Klementieff – whose character Mantis is able to sense the emotions of others and control their feelings – was upset about her ruined bag, says Mr Feige.

But they were wrong. In a moment reminiscent of something Mantis might say, the American film and television producer adds that Klementieff blurted out: “I feel like something is ending.”

She says: “I wanted to hide in the bathroom and cry because it’s like mourning. Sometimes, it just hits at unexpected moments. You can’t control it.”