Chris Pratt Says ‘Jurassic World’ Acting Involves Lots of Blank Stares
Jurassic World's premiere weekend is only just beginning, but it's already a teeth-gnashing monster of a success at the box office: THR reports that it raked in 24.5 million internationally last night (June 11).
This means that Chris Pratt — who was elevated from cult favorite status as Parks and Rec's Andy into BIG TIME MOVIE STAR with Guardians of the Galaxy — is on track to be more famous than ever. You'd think these raised expectations would have him trying almost too hard, in order to match the energy that a CGI dino brings to the screen. Nope! Pratt tells Conan O'Brien you really just need three basic facial expressions to slay in an action-packed blockbuster.
Let Chris explain the cinematic virtues of The Blank Stare. "You should really do nothing. That's the key. Because if they cut to like a birthday cake, the audience should think, "I think he's hungry for birthday cake!" But instead they cut to a 60 foot dinosaur chasing me and they think "I betcha he's scared right now!" He goes onto say the dramatic score and editing do a lot of the heavy lifting, so an actor is best off letting the audience project their own feelings onto the situation.
"I had three faces for this one," the actor explains, as he proceeds to flex his acting muscles for the Conan camera — and he's right, he's barely flexing any muscles at all. It's all really (barely) in the eye movements. ACTING.
Witness Pratt's *extremely* subtle depictions of fear, love and "pure joy" above — and to see another Jurassic World star flaunt their onscreen skills, watch Bryce Dallas Howard cry on command below.