Chris Pratt, the A-list actor who has been open about his faith in recent years, offered a nice surprise to some of his fans serving overseas: early access to the star’s latest movie release The Tomorrow War.
The families stateside will be treated to a nice meal, which Pratt joked to the soldiers currently deployed overseas that “you’ll have to eat the same old stuff.”
Pratt went on to thank each for their sacrifices. “I understand that the life I live inside of a bubble of protection that you provide for me,” the Marvel star said. “Just know, I do not take it for granted. I’m living my dream and I know you’re making that possible. Thank you.”
“Thank you for supporting the troops and our families,” one of the soldiers on the conference zoom call said to Pratt, who took the time to chat and answer questions with several servicemen and their families.
The surprise, featured on People Magazine, is nothing unusual for Pratt, who is a big supporter of our men and women in the armed forces. His brother, Cully, is an Army vet and now a sheriff’s deputy.
“I always wanted to be exactly like him,” Pratt said of his veteran brother, admiring his willingness to serve in the military.
Pratt comes from a family steeped in armed service, with several of his loved ones having spent considerable time in the military. On a recent Veterans Day, he wrote, “This is my older brother Cully. #happyveteransday,” Pratt wrote alongside a picture of his brother in uniform. “I always wanted to be exactly like him. He is a good big brother. He’s always led with love.”
“Growing up we wrestled for hours every day and smashed every bit of furniture in the house but never actually fought,” Chris continued. “He taught me everything. He put up with me and my incessant hyperactivity and forced his friends to do the same.”
Partially because of his outspoken faith, Pratt has often been a target of cancel culture. Some argued recently that Hollywood should stop working with him because of his alleged conservative political beliefs and the church he attends.
It started when film writer Amy Berg tweeted that one Hollywood “Chris” needs to go, in a hypothetical internet poll. Then she needlessly pitted Chris Pratt against Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Chris Pine.
The negative attacks on Pratt came in fast and furious from progressives on Twitter calling him a “conservative Trumper” and a “Bible pusher.”
Pratt’s wife Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt immediately came to her husband’s defense, calling out the internet “bullies.”
Fellow Marvel actors Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, and Jeremy Renner also stepped forward to speak out against the criticism.
Downey Jr. defends Pratt by referring to the Bible passage in which Jesus defended a woman who was about to be stoned to death. “What a world… The ‘sinless’ are casting stones at my #brother, Chris Pratt.”
He goes on to call Pratt, “A real #Christian who lives by #principle, has never demonstrated anything but #positivity and #gratitude.”
Ruffalo tweeted that Pratt “is as solid a man there is” while Saldana encouraged her Guardians of the Galaxy co-star writing, “You got this… Your family, friends, colleagues & everyone who’s ever crossed paths with you knows your heart and your worth!”
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn also came to Pratt’s defense tweeting, “Please stop assuming what he believes, politically or in any other way, because he’s a Christian.”