Chris Pratt wondered if ‘Electric State’ might be his last big screen adventure

March 14, 20255 Mins Read

1 of 3 | “The Electric State” premieres Friday on Netflix. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, March 14 (UPI) — Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World icon Chris Pratt says he was planning to take a break from making movies, but the idea of reuniting with the Russo brothers for the big popcorn movie The Electric State was irresistible to pass up.

“I had intended to take a chunk of time off to be home and then I read this script and I was like, ‘Grrrr, [expletive], I guess I HAVE to do this movie,'” the married father of four children recently joked with the crowd at New York Comic Con.

“It was so good and opportunities like this just don’t come around that often, to work with such an incredible team. We’d worked together before — not just the Russo brothers, and I love you both so much — but also our [assistant director] department.”

Premiering Friday on Netflix, the fantasy-adventure film, which blends live-action and animation, also features Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Norman, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, Colman Domingo and Alan Tudyk.

The loose adaptation of the illustrated novel by Simon Stalenhag takes place in an alternate version of the 1990s after a war between humans and robots.

“It’s adapted, of course, from an incredible graphic novel, but it’s not the kind of thing that typically gets made to be a blockbuster-style movie. It’s so original. It’s a huge swing and I thought that this might be, I don’t know, maybe my last opportunity to be in a big movie like this,” Pratt, 45, said.

“I have to look at every opportunity like that and I did,” he said. “It was just such a great story. I was moved to tears reading it and when you get to see the movie you’ll see.”

Pratt said he felt as though the film was a throwback to the low-tech Steven Spielberg movies he grew up watching and loving.

“There’s this feel of an Amblin-style world that I loved watching in The Goonies and various other films from the 1980s and 90s. It feels that way, but it’s contemporary,” Pratt said.

“It has themes that are so resonant and important for today regarding technology and humanity,” he added. “So, it’s just a special film and when something comes along like this, you have to do it. My wife even read it, and she was like, ‘Yeah, I think you have to do this movie,’ so I got permission from Mama and came to play with the boys and the girls.”

Stranger Things and Enola Holmes actress Brown, 21, was excited to star in a project that was slightly more contemporary than she is used to.

“I had never done anything like this before,” she said.

“It was very different, so, as an actor, it challenged me,” Brown added. “I didn’t do much prep because I went straight from one film to another, so I really went in with the idea I just want to be like a 1990s Drew Barrymore. I just remember I kept sending that picture, like this image of her [to the filmmakers], and I was like, ‘I want my hair to look like this and this is what I want to wear.'”

Brown credited the Russos for their “beautiful job in directing” and helping her unpack her character Michelle as they filmed.

“There’s a human left in her and I think [she] didn’t go through the angsty teen phase yet, so I kept going back to the Russos [and asking], ‘How do you want me to play this?'” the actress said.

“We really found it together, which I think was what I really love so much about this. It is a collaboration of finding who she is and now I’ve found her. I’m so unbelievably proud and happy with the end result.”

Pratt said he based his character Keats on a cool, irresponsible older neighbor he had when he was a kid, who looked like rock star David Lee Roth from Van Halen and was, basically, an “’80s guy living in the ’90s who is past his prime.”

“I just dove right in,” he said.

Asked what she thought of the mullet hairdo Pratt sports in the film, Brown laughed and said, “I knew he made a choice for his character.”

She said another highlight for her was the rare occasion when she got to work with motion-capture artists who helped bring the animated characters to life.

“I had a lot of emotional scenes in the first, maybe, month or so,” she recalled.

“You really have to leave your humility at the door. You look insane. You do one pass with the motion-capture actor and one pass with no one, and I’m just looking into air crying and I think it’s added to my skill set,” Brown added.

“I have a huge amount of gratitude to No. 1. the Russos, but also the motion-capture actors and team that helped to build the world, so we didn’t have to do most of the work.”

Cast member Chris Pratt (R) and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, attend the premiere of Netflix’s “The Electric State” in Los Angeles on February 24, 2025. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

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