Chris Pratt

A casting director had to talk James Gunn into seeing him. Gunn's first reaction: "This joker? No way." Not even twelve seconds into the audition, he changed his mind. Gunn wasn't the last one to need convincing.

He was sleeping in a van on a Maui beach, waiting tables at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, when Rae Dawn Chong cast him in a short film. Slow grind from there: Everwood for four seasons, then a six-episode guest arc on Parks and Recreation that turned permanent after the creator called him "the funniest person we've ever seen." He spent years playing a lovable idiot at roughly 300 pounds. He dropped 60 in six months and became a franchise.

His films have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. The internet still voted him "worst Chris" in a viral 2020 poll, and his own MCU co-stars had to publicly rally to his defense.

The faith story keeps fueling the contempt. He promoted the Hallow prayer app, denied ever attending Hillsong, then told the Hollywood Reporter he's "not a religious person," contradicting his own 2018 MTV speech where he said "God is real." The Terminal List became a franchise on Amazon, and his production company landed a Universal first-look deal. The business has never needed the internet's approval.

Marrying into the Schwarzenegger family was the kind of Hollywood dynasty move that deserved more attention than it got. Arnold is his father-in-law now, and they genuinely get along. Maria Shriver reportedly set them up through their church.

Off-set, he runs Stillwater Ranch on San Juan Island, raising sheep, chickens, and a Texas Longhorn. TV Guide once called him "problematic" for hunting and eating his own lamb. He's a franchise star who'd rather wrestle rams for hoof trimming than work a red carpet, and that dissonance is exactly why half the internet doesn't know what to do with him.