Chris Pratt Compares Himself to Jesus Amid Backlash: "They Hated Him, Too"
The Guardians of the Galaxy star addressed the criticism he's received over the years.
He's currently the star of the No. 1 and No. 2 movies in the world (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie), but actor Chris Pratt isn't universally beloved by the public. In fact, the 43-year-old actor has faced considerable backlash online, particularly when it comes to his religion and the way he's talked about his faith. He has defended himself over the years, but in a new interview, the Parks and Recreation star went about it a different way. Asked about how he deals with haters, Pratt quoted the Bible and drew a parallel between himself and Jesus Christ, saying that "people hated him, too."
Read on to see what else the Jurassic World actor had to say and to learn more about his past scandals.
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Pratt referenced Jesus in a red carpet interview.
Pratt spoke to Page Six at a recent screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The publication notes that he agreed that he has been criticized for being outspoken about his faith.
"I sure do, but that's nothing new, that's nothing new, you know?" he responded. "If I was of this world, they would love me just like that but as it is, I've chosen out of this world. That's John 15:18 through 20. That's the way it is, nothing new, 2,000 years ago they hated him, too," he added, referring to Jesus.
According to the King James Bible, the verses he mentioned read, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
Pratt was believed to be a member of a controversial church.
Part of the backlash to Pratt's popularity has to do with the church he attends. (Though he has also been slammed for some aspects of his personal life.) In 2019, he talked about his Christian faith on The Late Show. In response, actor Elliot Page tweeted that Pratt was a member of an "infamously anti-LGBTQ" church. Pratt wrote on Instagram, "Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone."
Page was referring to the controversial Hillsong Church, of which Pratt was rumored to be a congregant. Years later, in a 2022 interview with Men's Health, the actor clarified that he attends Zoe Church, which is said to have been modeled after Hillsong. "I never went to Hillsong. I've never actually been to Hillsong. I don't know anyone from that church," the star claimed.
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He has said he's not as religious as people assume.
Pratt told Men's Health that he believes public opinion turned against him when he gave a speech about his beliefs at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
"Maybe it was hubris," he said in the interview. "For me to stand up on the stage and say the things that I said, I'm not sure I touched anybody." He added that people started to believe that he's more religious than he actually is.
"Religion has been oppressive as [expletive] for a long time," he continued. "I didn't know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I'm not a religious person. I think there's a distinction between being religious—adhering to the customs created by man, oftentimes appropriating the awe reserved for who I believe is a very real God—and using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred."
But he speaks out about his faith often.
Despite saying that he's "not a religious person," Pratt has continued to open up about his beliefs in public, including to Page Six. He also regularly posts about Christianity on social media.
Alongside a recent Instagram post of himself and his Guardians of the Galaxy co-stars on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter, he wrote, "When they gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city." He captioned a post about his Stillwater Ranch, "Psalm 23 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me to still water."
While some people have questioned the values of his church, Pratt's social posts about his faith are often met with followers thanking him for being outspoken about Christianity.
"Thank you for standing your ground, and being unapologetically Christian. We are not in a time welcomes that, however, we are in a time that requires that," reads one comment on his post about his ranch. Another commenter wrote, "You have a huge fan base because of your Christian values and we appreciate you not changing to the woke Hollywood ideology."
