By David Wharton | 6 years ago

Actors are constantly sharing stories about which props, costumes, and mementos they’ve swiped from the various productions they’ve worked on over the years. It’s a way of having a touchstone, a connection to a specific experience and period of their lives that might conjure up a sense of nostalgia even more powerfully than by watching the finished film or TV show. So it’s not surprising at all to learn that Guardians of the Galaxy actor Chris Pratt stole his Star-Lord costume…but it is great to learn that his reasons for doing so were about more than just nabbing a memento. He wanted the outfit so he could bring a little joy to sick children by popping into hospitals dressed as his Guardians altar ego. And sure enough, he’s done precisely that.

E! has revealed that, earlier this week, Pratt helped set up a screening of Guardians of the Galaxy for patients, families, and staff at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. As promised, Pratt showed up dressed as Peter “Star-Lord” Quill and spent some three hours hanging out with the kids at the hospital and handing out toys. Not content with that, he then went on to visit other children who were too sick to attend the screening, spending time with kids in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, and the Pediatric ICU.

He also visited young Dylan Prunty, a Lego fan with whom Pratt spent some 10 minutes reenacting scenes from The Lego Movie (wherein Pratt voiced Emmet Brickowski, the lead character). In the Huffington Post pic below, you can see Pratt goofing off with Prunty, with a Lego recreation of the hospital sitting near Prunty’s bed. On an unrelated note, I have something in my eye.

You can see Pratt admitting to stealing his Star-Lord jacket — and why — around the 4:30 mark in the video below.