Chris Pratt was teased about his early acting roles while being roasted on Friday night at Harvard University, where he received the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award by America’s oldest undergraduate drama troupe.
Pratt walked to the stage while a band played an instrumental version of Everything Is Awesome, the central song in The Lego Movie, in which he voiced the character Emmet. He also starred in Guardians of the Galaxy. They were two of the five highest-grossing films of last year.
Zoe Rosenthal and Joshua Friedman, producers of Hasty Pudding’s production of Oops! ... Madrid It Again!, teased Pratt about some of his earlier TV roles before his current gig on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, such as his portrayal of Winchester “Che” Cook on The O.C.
“Our Man of the Year played a minor character who had a major role in getting the show cancelled,” Friedman joked.
Rosenthal and Friedman also made fun of Pratt for his role in the film Deep In The Valley, saying audiences asked for refunds after watching it.
“Joke’s on you: It didn’t even open in theatres,” Pratt quipped.
During a brief performance, Pratt was asked to break planks of wood with his hands and head, a reference to his character Andy Dwyer’s “Johnny Karate” gimmick on Parks and Recreation.
At the end of the roast, Pratt was presented with the traditional golden Pudding Pot. He called his day in Cambridge “truly remarkable”, and thanked the crowd, then shared with the audience that he owned a Harvard sweatshirt in fifth grade.
“I only could have owned that at the time if it was for sale at Kmart for $5 (Dh18) or less,” he said. “So I would say you’ve come a long way, Harvard.”
At a news conference after the ceremony, Pratt responded to rumours that he may be playing Indiana Jones in a future movie, saying he knows as much as anyone else about the rumours, but that it would be an “awesome opportunity” to play the iconic character.
Earlier in the day, Pratt visited Christopher’s Haven, a Boston home for children fighting cancer.
He showed up dressed as Star-Lord, his Guardians of the Galaxy character, to make good on a Super Bowl bet. Pratt, a Seattle Seahawks fan, lost the bet with fellow Marvel superhero Chris Evans, a New England Patriots fan who plays Captain America.
