Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Stars Karen Gillan and Chris Pratt Express Their Love for James Gunn

guardWith the Guardians of the Galaxy series wrapping up with vol. 3 this summer, stars Chris Pratt and Karen Gillan joined Fandango in a promotional video yesterday to encourage fans to go buy tickets to the film, which are now on sale. The pair were quizzed about their relationship with James Gunn, the director behind the franchise and the filmmaker responsible for casting each of the two in the series. Both praised him both as a person and as a filmmaker, with Gillan in particular being visibly moved while talking about her relationship with Gunn.

It’s an interesting moment for Gunn, obviously. While he has been marketing first the Guardians holiday special and now Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3, he has also been taking over competing film house DC Studios, where he will write and direct a 2025 Superman movie.

Prefacing her remarks with “Oh God, don’t cry,” Gillan told Fandango, “I’m so grateful to him. he gave me a career in films in America. He is the most wonderful director, the most caring person. He also is the one that takes in a lot of people into his life. I feel like everyone has got some interesting story, or is a little bit lost in some way, and he forms this family around him. He’s truly one of the most caring people I’ve ever come across on my life. So that’s lovely to be around as a human, but then on set, you feel incredibly taken care of as an actor, and you feel like he creates this comfortable, safe space where you can make an idiot of yourself and try stuff, and he’s going to probably laugh at you and make fun of you but that’s okay.”

“He’s one of my best friends, I talk to him all the time,” Pratt said. “I owe my career to him, and being PQ in GOTG changed everything. Like I said, there waws a list of 25 guys that Hollywood wanted to be PQ, and I wasn’t one of them. He found me, took a chance on me, and I trusted him, and I learned a lot through the process — I didn’t know how to play this character, and he taught me how to do it. he did a great job. He knows how to work with acotrs, and knew how to work with me. Works with everyone differently. He’s so prepared, he knows exactly what he wants. He’s not afraid to tell me ‘no,’ and that’s a big deal. Sometimes I get a little overpowering with my ideas and my thoughts. I’ll be like, ‘It should be this way, that’s the way I see it in my brain, and I think it should be that way,’ but it’s not my show, it’s his show. And in the end, I go, ‘Wow, he was right, it should be that way.’ Periodically also, he’s not so proud that if an idea comes up that is good, he’ll say ‘No, not that idea, becuase it isn’t mine.’ He’s a real collaborator, and whatever’s the best thing goes onscreen. And for the most part, he knows exactly what that is going to be.”

You can see the film’s official synopsis below.

In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past,” the synopsis reads. “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

Guardians of the Galaxy newcomers include Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior, Superstore alum Nico Santos, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm‘s Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog. The movie will also feature the return of Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Dave Bautista (Drax), Zoe Saldaña (Gamora), Sean Gunn (Kraglin/on-set Rocket), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), and Vin Diesel (Groot).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tickets are on sale now. The film opens in theaters on May 5th.