Chris Pratt says his Moneyball audition started badly enough that director Bennett Miller told him he sounded like a man trying out next to Brad Pitt. Pratt says he was nervous as he could possibly imagine, and the 2011 meeting ended with him kicking Miller and Pitt out of the room before making them knock and come back in.
That is the kind of scene that fits a film about undervalued players finding a path in baseball. Moneyball, released in 2011 and adapted from Michael Lewis' 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, told the true story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane using in-game metrics to identify overlooked talent. Pratt, then best known as Andy Dwyer on NBC's Parks and Recreation and still three years away from Guardians of the Galaxy, was not yet a major star when he read for the role opposite Miller and Pitt.
Pratt said Miller was sitting back with his feet on the desk and watching him work through the scene before offering the blunt note that changed the room. “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,’” Pratt said.
Moneyball went on to earn six Oscar nominations, and Pratt’s part in it became one of the early steps in the slow build toward the blockbuster fame that followed. The audition story lands the same way the film does: a reminder that sometimes the turn comes when the least expected person in the room decides to act like he belongs there.
