Marvel Casting Director Reveals ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Was Most Difficult to Cast, Chris Pratt Refused to Audition

Sarah Finn has been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the very beginning. As the primary casting director behind the shared entertainment universe, she’s often times one of the first people to begin working on these properties and she’s one of the few people at Marvel Studios to have their thumbprint on every single movie the production house has released. Suffice to say, she knows the MCU just as well as anyone.

On the red carpet for tonight’s Avengers: Endgame premiere, Finn admits that Guardians of the Galaxy has been the hardest Marvel movie to cast, not only because they were trying to get people to play a talking raccoon and walking tree, but because one of the leads initially refused to audition for their part. Speaking with Variety, Finns says that Guardians star Chris Pratt initially didn’t want a thing to do with playing Peter Quill/Star-Lord.

“They’re all challenging in their own ways, but I’d probably go with Guardians of the Galaxy,” Finn says. “James Gunn has been very generous about this in saying that I, to the point of annoying him, kept insisting that Chris Pratt was the guy for the part, but Chris didn’t want to play the part and refused to audition.”

After some poking and prodding, Finn was able to get Pratt to audition, but at that point, Guardians director James Gunn had already tried moving on to other actors.

“I finally got him to audition and James Gunn said he didn’t want to see him and that really was a challenge,” she continues. “I was really happy when I finally got them together and it was honestly one of those eureka moments that we talk about in casting when it absolutely feels right and you know it’s right. James turned to me within ten seconds and said ‘He’s the guy.’”

“We were reading many actors and they were all incredible and all different versions of the character but I kept hearing Chris in my head, so it was great when he decided he was interested and now, it’s a legend. He’s the perfect person.”

Captain Marvel is now in theaters while Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26th. The only other MCU movie set for release this year is Spider-Man: Far From Home, swinging to theaters on July 2nd.

Who’s your favorite Guardian? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter by hitting me up at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things cosmic Marvel!

—–

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com, yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we break down the trailers for Dark Phoenix and Child’s Play, talk Halo casting, and so much more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!