Chris Pratt has reflected on his difficult early years as an aspiring actor, recalling a time when he lived in a van in Hawaii before finding success in Hollywood.
The Minnesota-born actor, 47, shared a photo on Instagram Thursday showing him on the set of the 2000 short film Cursed Part 3.
“Before Hollywood, I was living in a van in Hawaii and waiting tables at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company,” Pratt wrote.
The Guardians of the Galaxy star went on to describe the chance encounter that helped change the course of his career. “One day, the incredible Rae Dawn Chong walked into the restaurant, and naturally, I went up to her table and said, ‘Hey, you’re a movie star! What are you doing here?’”
Pratt said he told Chong that he was an actor, prompting her to ask for his phone number because she had a potential film role in mind. However, he did not have a phone at the time.
The Daily Mail has contacted Pratt’s representatives for additional comment.
Chris Pratt spoke about his early days in show business as a struggling actor, as he had been living in a van in Hawaii. Above, with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger in 2025
Pratt seen in a throwback shot he posted to Facebook showing off the van he used to live in while in Hawaii
‘So I gave her my buddy Mike’s number instead,’ Pratt said. ‘A couple days later, Mike casually mentions, “Oh, by the way, someone called you.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MIKE?!’
Pratt said that he spoke with Chong, who presented him with the script, which was the first he had ever read.
Pratt said he ‘read all 120 pages three times in a row,’ and ‘showed up to the audition with every line and inflection mapped out in pencil.’
The Parks and Recreation alum said that Chong then told him the movie would be filmed in Los Angeles, as he was not able to afford the travel expenses at the time.
‘I had about $60 to my name, a bag of clothes, and some rollerblades,’ he said. ‘Then Rae told me they’d fly me out. And I remember thinking right then and there, my life just changed forever. I’m going to be an actor.’
Pratt described Cursed Part 3 as ‘a low-budget horror comedy that opened the door to Hollywood for me.’
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He said he would ‘forever be grateful to Rae for taking a chance on a kid working at a shrimp restaurant.’
‘Everybody starts somewhere, and this is where it all began for me.’
Pratt pictured at a 2003 event in LA amid his ascent to stardom
Pratt seen alongside Zoe Saldana in 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The actor was seen during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month
Pratt previously spoke about his days residing in a van at the age of 19 after a friend purchased him a ticket to Maui.
‘It’s a pretty awesome place to be homeless,’ he told The Independent in 2014. ‘It would be different if I lived on the streets of Chicago and ate garbage from a dumpster.
‘We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, 15-20 hours per week, just enough to cover gas, food and fishing supplies. You know, it was charming time.’
Chong, the daughter of comic/actor Tommy Chong, is best known for films such as The Color Purple and Commando, the latter in which she shared the screen with Pratt’s future father-in-law, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Pratt steadily built his career in Hollywood with roles on TV shows such as Everwood and The O.C. before snagging a major part as Andy Dwyer on the series Parks and Recreation.
He’s gone on to craft an impressive film resume with credits in motion pictures such as Moneyball, Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy.
In recent years, he’s been seen on the Prime series The Terminal List, playing lead character James Reece.
The actor and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, 36, are parents to children Lyla Maria, six, Eloise Christina, four, and Ford Fitzgerald, one. He is father to Jack, 14, with ex-wife Anna Faris, 49.
