Actor Chris Pratt is best known for his role in blockbuster Hollywood films such as Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy. However, it may surprise some people that he is a family-oriented Christian.
According to Melody Chiu of People, 35-year-old Pratt credits his wife of six years, Anna Faris, and 2-year-old son, Jack, for keeping him grounded as his acting profile in Hollywood rises to new highs. Despite the odds that face many marriages between Hollywood actors, both Pratt and Faris find time to keep their relationship strong.
"I have the support of a strong partner who's been through this and understands it and whom I can share these experiences with," Pratt said. "And we have a family that we're starting that's the focus of my attention."
Pratt highlighted how he did his best to balance time with both his wife and son.
"Anna's parents come down and they'll give us the night to do something and the morning to sleep in," Pratt said. "I think it's important to carve those times out no matter what you do for a living."
The star of the critically-acclaimed TV show Parks and Recreation elaborated on his version of family values.
"A lot of times, people focus so much on their kids, and then when their kids leave the nest, they look at their spouse or partner like they're a stranger," Pratt said. "It's just as important, if not more important, to focus on your relationship with your partner because your children are going to leave one day [and] you have to maintain a relationship that's going to outlast your child's needs for you."
In a July 2014 report from ABC News, Pratt noted that his son was born nine weeks premature back in August 2012. Jack spent a month in intensive care.
"It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it," Pratt said. "The baby was so beautiful to us, and I look back at the photos of him and it must have been jarring for other people to come in and see him, but to us he was so beautiful and perfect."
Pratt added that his son was "a fighter" and had "no fear in him no matter what."
"He is so charming that my plan is to just let him take care of us as soon as he's old enough," Pratt said.
According to Madeline Boardman and Ingrid Meilan of US Weekly, Pratt elaborated more on the premature birth of his son in a speech at the March of Dimes back in December 2014.
"He was three pounds, 12 ounces," Pratt said. "Anna got to hold him for a moment and then it was off to the NICU - the neonatal intensive care unit. Three pounds, 12 ounces. That's a decent size bass. Very small for a human."
Pratt observed the conditions his son fought during the premature birth.
"He had jaundice, so they put a blindfold on him and he slept beneath [a] creepy light and he had a PICC line, which is an IV that runs up his arm into his heart," Pratt said. "He had a feeding tube and just wires in and out, and he lived in that incubator. That was his first crib."
Pratt added that only he and Faris were allowed to touch Jack; everyone else had to wear gloves during the ICU treatment.
"My little boy was laying across my neck and chest feeling my heartbeat and feeling my love, and I played him country music and I sang to him and I made him promises... in that moment... you know, about... just about what kind of dad I wanted to be, and I just prayed that he'd be here long enough and he was going to let me keep him," Pratt said.
The actor also thanked March of Dimes in their support for babies.
"None of what we went through would have been as easy even 10 years ago, and much of that ease is really the direct result of funding from March of Dimes," Pratt said. "We were lucky."
From that perspective, Pratt placed his family above his Hollywood career.
"I've done all kinds of cool stuff as an actor," Pratt said. "I've gotten to jump out of helicopters and do daring stunts and play baseball in a professional stadium, but none of them mean anything compared to being somebody's daddy."
