The new film follows Garfield as he is snatched away from his pampered lifestyle and forced to carry out a heist for the sake of his alley-cat father. Photo: Handout
Voicing the iconic lazy, orange cat in The Garfield Movie reminded Chris Pratt of himself when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.
“I ate so much all the time, and I was very lazy,” he said.
“I never exercised and I ate a whole bunch, and it was great,” the Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014 to 2023) actor added.
“I don’t do that any longer, but I do have the sense that I’m constantly pampered. So, depending on the season of my life we’re talking about, there are similarities in the characters, but I’ve yet to be all of them all at once.”
Pratt humorously noted that his connection to his character became stronger in several ways leading up to his interview.
“I’ve become Garfield. Look. I’ve got orange all around me. I was pampered and pet all morning before this interview and, now, I’m going to eat a big bowl of lasagna,” he said.
The famed 1976 comic strip from cartoonist Jim Davis has gone from page to animation. It is showing at cinemas.
Chris Pratt voices the iconic cat Garfield in the new movie. Photo: Handout
The film follows Garfield, a lethargic and greedy orange cat, as he is snatched away from his pampered lifestyle and forced to carry out a heist for the sake of his alley-cat father Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.
Pratt is no stranger to voicing animated characters, following his experience portraying the Italian plumber Mario in the box-office success The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and voicing the elf Barley Lightfoot in Pixar’s Onward (2020).
For the 44-year-old American actor, it was easy to take on the role because director Mark Dindal – a well-known American animation pioneer known for leading hits such as The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) – already imagined his voice being used for Garfield, making it an effortless fit.
“Mark said he has been working on Garfield for a couple of years, and he just hears my voice coming out of Garfield’s mouth. He said ‘this is Chris Pratt as a cat’,” Pratt said.
Getting approval from Davis, whose comic strip has been published in more than 2,000 newspapers and journals around the world, meant a lot to Pratt.
“Yeah, he’s the character’s creator, and I just heard recently that he gave a sweet quote and rated me a 10 out of 10 as the voice of Garfield,” Pratt said.
“I don’t think I’d quite realised how much pressure I’d been feeling to get the sign-off from him and, so, the fact that he felt that way, means a lot to me,” he added. – Reuters
