It may be hard to believe, but there was a time not too long ago when Chris Pratt was just another actor hoping to get a job. The 2026 movies star had a bit of a waiting period after his starring roles on Everwood and in the final season of The O.C., but found salvation in James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie’s 2008 action thriller, Wanted. However, he’s now talked about how “embarrassed” he was when someone literally stepped on his head in front of the leading lady.
What Chris Pratt Said About His Head Being Stepped On In Front Of Angelina Jolie
Most of us have our share of embarrassing moments, but few of them happen in front of famous people. That cannot be said for Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt, who once found himself as a young actor appearing in a film with the much-more-famous-than-him-at-the-time, Angelina Jolie.
Wanted (which has a lot in common with John Wick) saw Pratt take on a supporting role as Barry, a colleague and the supposed best friend of James McAvoy’s character, who takes some literal hits during the course of the movie. When speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently, Pratt was asked what it meant to him to land his part in the movie. While he was “totally starstruck” at working with Jolie and “excited” to go to Prague for production, it turns out that making the movie wasn’t without its incidents. As he explained:
I remember the camera operator had done Children of Men, and you remember all the camera work and the one-er. So he was this really touted Steadicam operator. And there was a scene, it’s like later in the movie, where my character gets punched and knocked out and I lay on the floor for most of the scene.
This seems pretty straightforward so far, but as Pratt will soon explain, this is where he found himself in a difficult spot when it came to this much ballyhooed cameraman. He continued:
Now, this was before — I was still so green I didn’t quite understand what was ever being filmed. I just was new, I was there doing my bit. I didn’t know what the camera was picking up or not picking up. So I got punched, in the top of the scene, I fall down. I’m never seen again in the scene. But I didn’t know that. So I laid on the ground the whole time. And the camera operator was walking backwards, doing his sort of physical gymnastics he needs to do these incredible shots like the Children of Men one-ers, and he full-on just stepped on my head.
I have to admit, I am really feeling some visceral second-hand embarrassment right now. It’s bad enough that Pratt (who reunited with Wanted’s director for his recent film, Mercy), despite his four seasons as one of the main characters on Everwood, was still unaware of what’s in a shot and what isn’t. But add to that thinking that he was just doing his job correctly and ending up with having his head literally being stepped on? And with Jolie right there? We’re talking CRINGE + 1000, alright? To make it even worse, the camera operator wasn’t exactly in an apologetic mood afterwards, either. Pratt added:
And then he yelled at me. I couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘What the f--k are you doing?’ [It was] right in front of Angelina Jolie. I was so embarrassed, bro…. I was like, ‘I don’t know! I was just doing what we f--king rehearsed 30 times.’ Angelina Jolie was like, ‘Are you OK, sweetheart?’ [I’m like,] ‘I’m OK. I’m OK. I think I’m OK. Kind of embarrassed.’
Goodness me. I hope that was his last day on set, because I know I would have been tempted to leave work that day and just head straight for the airport so that I could flee Prague and the entire continent that bore witness to my professional shame.
Of course, whether it was the final scene he shot or not, everything ended up turning out fine, as he soon went on to make comedy waves in the beloved Parks and Recreation, which led to his blockbuster movie franchise stardom in several of the Marvel movies in order and his Jurassic World entries of the Jurassic Park franchise.
If anything, I suppose the takeaway should be to keep going after making a major mistake, because it’s unlikely to completely derail you if you don’t let it.
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