Chris Pratt Made A Bold Move During His Moneyball Audition With Brad Pitt

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In 2011, a pre-"Guardians of the Galaxy" Chris Pratt played injured Oakland Athletics catcher Scott Hatteberg in "Moneyball." It was a significant role for the actor, who was yet to become the major star he is today. But he almost missed out on the film altogether after director Bennett Miller was left unimpressed with his initial audition. That is, until Pratt took charge and kicked the filmmaker and star/producer Brad Pitt out of their own audition room.

A movie about unorthodox, statistics-based scouting methods in professional baseball has no business being as engrossing and memorable as 2011's "Moneyball." The sports drama is easily one of Pitt's best movies and one of the best sports movies ever made. Of course, it helps when you have a cast that includes, as well as Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, and Pratt. 

Though the latter's role wasn't exactly huge, it was important. At the time, the young actor was only really known for his breakthrough role as Andy Dwyer in NBC's "Parks and Recreation." He was still three years away from playing Star-Lord/Peter Quill in "Guardians," which showcased a brand-new, physically transformed Pratt. Many actors have totally rebuilt their bodies for a single role, and that's exactly what Pratt did for his Marvel Cinematic Universe Debut, becoming almost unrecognizable. But what many might not realize is that this process actually started earlier.

Specifically, Pratt began his transformation for "Moneyball" after being told he was too out of shape for the sports drama. That was, however, just one hurdle the "Parks & Rec" star had to overcome to secure the role of Hatteberg.

"Moneyball" was adapted from Michael Lewis' 2003 book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game." This true story of how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt in the film) turned his team's fortunes around using in-game metrics to identify "undervalued players" made for a standout movie that earned six Oscar nominations. As such, it was also a major step in Chris Pratt's journey to becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars. But the actor had to fight for his role.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Pratt spoke about auditioning for Pitt and Bennett Miller. "I'm nervous as you can possibly imagine," he said, which was only made worse when Miller criticized his initial attempt at reading with Pitt, who by agreeing to star had already saved "Moneyball" from being mothballed prematurely. Pratt described Miller as a "wonderful director" who also happens to be "kind of a pain in the a**," a fact demonstrated during the audition. Pratt continued:

"He's sitting back like this with his feet up on his desk, and he's just watching me do the scene. He's like, 'Yeah, it just kind of feels like you're auditioning for this role. You know, this is supposed to be your house, and it feels like you're a guy who's auditioning next to Brad Pitt, and you're nervous about it.'"

Rather than crumbling under the pressure, Pratt took charge. "I said, 'Well, then, how about this? This is my house, and you can start by taking your f****** feet off my desk!' I kicked him out, and I said, 'You, Brad, get out! You guys go knock on the door and come back in, then we'll do the audition!' It worked!"

"Moneyball" was a noteworthy pre-MCU success story for Chris Pratt, allowing him to show off his dramatic chops at a time when he was best known for playing the lovably dense Andy Dwyer on "Parks & Recreation." As such, his efforts to secure the role of Scott Hatteberg were worth it, but he did have to jump through a lot of hoops.

After kicking Bennett Miller and Brad Pitt out of their own audition room, Pratt seemed to have impressed the duo. But that wasn't the end of his troubles. The actor told Movieline (via the Huffington Post) that even after impressing Miller and Pitt, he was told he was too overweight for the role. "My agent called me and said, 'Chris, they really thought you were good, but they think you're too fat,'" he remembered. "I was like, 'F***, really? That sucks. Okay, well, I can lose weight. Did you tell them I could lose weight?'" His agent confirmed that Miller hadn't offered the role of Hatteberg to anyone else but that there were still "no guarantees." Over the next three months, Pratt lost 30 pounds before eventually finding out he had landed the part. "I was bound and determined to become Scott Hatteberg," he said, "whether they cast me or not."

When he tried out for "Moneyball," Pratt had been auditioning for multiple Marvel movies and even a DC project, and had spoken about how he almost gave up after being constantly passed over. Landing "Moneyball" was about more than advancing his career, then. It gave him a win at a time when he very clearly needed it, boosting his confidence and keeping him in the game long enough to become Star-Lord.