Hollywood star, whose career changed after he reshaped physique, says he’s ‘totally objectified’ yet comfortable being valued on the basis of his body



Jurassic World star Chris Pratt has said he believes equality between the sexes can be achieved if society starts to objectify men as much as it has traditionally objectified women.

The 35-year-old actor, who rose to fame after shedding 60 pounds in six months for a role in superhero epic Guardians of the Galaxy, told Radio Four’s Front Row he was more than happy to be valued on the basis of his buff physique.

“A huge part of how my career has shifted is based simply on the way that I look, on the way that I’ve shaped my body to look,” said Pratt, adding that he felt “totally objectified”.

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“I think it’s OK, I don’t feel appalled by it,” he continued. “I think it’s appalling that for a long time only women were objectified, but I think if we really want to advocate for equality, it’s important to even things out.

“Not objectify women less, but objectify men just as often as we objectify women. There are a lot of women who got careers out of it, and I’m using it to my advantage. And at the end of the day, our bodies are objects. We’re just big bags of flesh and blood and meat and organs that God gives us to drive around.”

In the interests of fairness, it should be stated that Pratt was responding to a question from Front Row presenter Kirsty Lang, who asked him if he felt objectified by all the attention over his musclebound look for Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World.

The actor was much heavier for his breakthrough TV role as Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation, but has fluctuated in weight for various roles over the past few years. He trimmed down and gained muscle to play a US navy seal in 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty, but put on 60 pounds to play a slovenly lawyer in 2013’s Delivery Man, opposite Vince Vaughn. Three years ago he told Vulture: “I just like to gain weight and lose weight. It’s a roller-coaster. I just want to do this. I want to touch God.”

Pratt, far right, in Parks and Recreation. Photograph: BBC/NBC

Pratt is due to headline Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in 2017, and there has already been talk of Jurassic World sequels in the wake of the film’s record-breaking $511m global opening last weekend.

Colin Trevorrow’s dinosaur disaster epic has expanded that total to a staggering $690m since Monday, and looks set to hit the magic $1bn mark in record time. Some observers have even speculated the film could be on course to challenge Avatar’s record $2.788bn total as the highest-grossing movie of all time.