Chris Pratt is Magnificent

By: Lynn Barker

Hunky/fun actor Chris Pratt won our hearts in Guardians of the Galaxy and he’s the guy we want by our sides if we have to survive a Jurassic World dinosaur attack. In the Western movie The Magnificent Seven (a remake of the classic 1960 film based on another Japanese classic Seven Samurai), Chris plays a less savory member of the Seven. He’s really a good guy hidden under some bad deeds. He hopes helping townspeople controlled by a ruthless baddie might cleanse his conscience. Let’s let Chris tell us all about it.

Q: Chris, tell us about the film.

• Chris: The movie follows a character named Sam Chisolm who is played by Denzel Washington. He’s a cowboy in 1879 who is a sworn warrant officer who is recruited by
• Emma, a brash and powerful young lady played by Hayley Bennett to come and set right some wrongs done to her and her townspeople at the hands of a ruthless gold baron Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). Sam goes out on a journey and collects the Magnificent Seven, six more guys to face an army.

Q: Talk about Hayley’s character Emma. She’s feisty!

• Chris: Her role feels contemporary. It feels modern, indicative of a modern day woman because she’s not just in the kitchen or playing a town prostitute or any other typical role in Westerns, she’s a strong, powerful woman. Any hint that she may be less than one of our equals is met with serious ferocity on her part. She handles a gun like any other cowboy and piles up some bodies herself. So, she’s tough and beautiful at the same time. In real life, she’s a great shooter too! Better than a lot of the men.

Q: Who is the guy you play in the film?

• Chris: My character Joshua Faraday has joined this squad and we’re not exactly sure why. It is him interacting with Hayley’s character Emma. It’s Faraday and Emma getting to know each other a little better and getting to understand one another. Joshua is a person who suffers the regret of having sinned in his life in a major way. He carries around some heavy stuff inside his heart that’s convinced him that he’s less than savory. He doesn’t think he’s a good guy. When you think you’re a bad guy, you let yourself do bad things. When you come to terms with the idea that you may be good in your heart, you have to face the bad things you have done. He’s also a lighthearted trickster, a gambler and a drinker. He loves the ladies but he’s calm and cool in a fire-fight.

Q: So, is he a hero? The Seven are trying to protect these townspeople.

• Chris: He’s brave and in this movie he has an opportunity to redeem himself and make up for some of the things he’s done. In my estimation, people who sacrifice themselves or put themselves in harm’s way to protect the greater good are my heroes. That includes my brother who is a law enforcement officer and all the men and women in the armed forces. People who have to pick up a gun and go to work. That, to me, is bravery and heroism and selfless sacrifice for your community or your country or a cause that is greater than yourself.

Q: Did all the Seven get along on set? What was the shoot like?

• Chris: It was a fun set. Not a practical joke kind of set though. It was like if you go to the fair and you get your “wanted” poster taken. You put on a hat or a sombrero, a vest or a poncho and grab a gun or an axe and do the sepia-toned photo that says “Reward, $5,000” and you get that printed out. It looks really cool. That’s what this entire town that was built where we spent the majority of our experience on this movie was like. We were in Rose Creek. This was thirty buildings that were built for the movie. We’re sitting inside the saloon, inside of the undertaker’s office, there’s horses everywhere. Extras are walking around in period garb. The fun came from being present in this incredible environment that was created so we could create an authentic Western. We did a lot of bonding and passing time the way cowboys did back then.

Q: You had the cool cowboy clothes too.

• Chris: Yeah, the wardrobe was one of the coolest elements of this. We got to go in a room with a ton of cowboy clothes and go like “Let me see that hat. No, not that one, that hat. Oh, this is sweet. Look at this vest!” Clothes make a man and you are standing in front of a mirror making your character with these clothes you’re trying on. For me, that was one of the most fun elements. Trying on the different clothes and finding your personal style and what sets you apart in the Seven. We were there in costume all dressed up and getting to see a lot of the action go down even when we weren’t in it which is nice for an actor to get an opportunity to sit behind the monitor and just watch other people working.

Q: Was there cowboy training for the film?

• Chris: There was some horse training and real horses are definitely more dangerous than animated dinosaurs (from his movie Jurassic World). Luckily we had good horse trainers and I was wise enough at this point in my life, to take it really slowly. I’d always gotten on a horse, expected it to go then be surprised when it throws my ass off. A horse is a living, breathing being and I approached it with enough apprehension this time around to avoid being injured luckily. Also we learned working with guns and doing some card tricks.

Q: Why will audiences enjoy seeing The Magnificent Seven?

• Chris: Well James Horner was the composer (he passed away in a plane crash last year and he composed the Titanic score) and he should posthumously win an Academy Award for film score. He passed away while we were making this and we were told that he’d already finished eight or nine songs and that music is in our movie now. This is the last movie he ever got to score so that’s one reason to see it right there.

You can see The Magnificent Seven in theaters this Friday, September 23^rd.

 

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