‘The Garfield Movie’ Gave Chris Pratt a Reminder of His Lazy Side

 US actor Chris Pratt arrives for the premiere of "The Garfield" movie at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 19, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Chris Pratt arrives for the premiere of "The Garfield" movie at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 19, 2024. (AFP)
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‘The Garfield Movie’ Gave Chris Pratt a Reminder of His Lazy Side

 US actor Chris Pratt arrives for the premiere of "The Garfield" movie at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 19, 2024. (AFP)
US actor Chris Pratt arrives for the premiere of "The Garfield" movie at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 19, 2024. (AFP)

Voicing the iconic lazy, orange cat in "The Garfield Movie" reminded Chris Pratt of himself when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.

"I ate so much all the time, and I was very lazy," he told Reuters.

"I never exercised and I ate a whole bunch, and it was great," the "Guardians of the Galaxy" actor added. "So, now I don't have that any longer, but I do have the sense that I'm constantly pampered. So, depending on the season of my life we're talking about, there are similarities in the characters, but I've yet to be all of them all at once."

Pratt humorously noted that his connection to his character became stronger in several ways leading up to his interview.

"I've become Garfield. Look. I've got orange all around me. I was pampered and pet all morning before this interview and now I'm going to eat a big bowl of lasagna," he said.

The famed 1976 comic strip from cartoonist Jim Davis is going from page to animation. Distributed by Sony Pictures, it arrives in US movie theaters on Friday.

The film follows Garfield, a lethargic and greedy orange cat, as he’s snatched away from his pampered lifestyle and forced to carry out a heist for the sake of his alley cat father Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.

Pratt is no stranger to voicing animated characters following his experience portraying the Italian plumber Mario in the box office success "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and voicing the elf Barley Lightfoot in Pixar's "Onward."

For the 44-year-old actor, it was easy to take on the role because Dindal, a well-known animation pioneer known for leading hits like "The Emperor's New Groove," already imagined his voice being used for Garfield, making it an effortless fit.

"Mark Dindal (the director) said 'I've been working on this for a couple of years, and I just hear your voice coming out of his mouth. To me, this is Chris Pratt as a cat,’" Pratt said.

Getting approval from Davis, whose comic strip has been published in over 2,000 newspapers and journals around the world, meant a lot to Pratt.

"Yeah, he's the character's creator, and I just heard recently that he gave a sweet quote and rated me a 10 out of 10 as the voice of Garfield," Pratt said.

"I don't think I'd quite realized how much pressure I'd been feeling to get the sign-off from him, and, so, the fact that he felt that way means a lot to me," he added



Gena Rowlands Has Alzheimer’s, Her Son Nick Cassavetes Says

Gena Rowlands. (AFP/Getty Images)
Gena Rowlands. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Gena Rowlands Has Alzheimer’s, Her Son Nick Cassavetes Says

Gena Rowlands. (AFP/Getty Images)
Gena Rowlands. (AFP/Getty Images)

The celebrated actor and honorary Academy Award recipient Gena Rowlands is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, her son, the filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, has revealed.

Cassavetes, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Tuesday, said Rowlands has had Alzheimer's for five years. In the 2004 film "The Notebook," Cassavetes directed his mother, who played the older version of the character played by Rachel McAdams, as a woman with dementia.

"We spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s," Cassavetes said. "She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us."

A representative for Rowlands confirmed that Cassavetes "speaks for the family."

Rowlands, who received an honorary Oscar in 2015, made 10 films with her husband, John Cassavetes, including 1974's "A Woman Under the Influence" and 1980's "Gloria." She was Oscar nominated for both performances. She also won four Emmy awards. Her last credited performance was the 2014 comedy "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks."

Rowlands's mother, actor Lady Rowlands, also had Alzheimer's. During the making of "The Notebook," Gena Rowlands said she channeled her mother.

"I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it — it’s just too hard," Rowlands told O magazine in 2004. "It was a tough but wonderful movie."