Actor Chris Pratt said there’s a reason why movies like “Taken” and “The Terminal List” resonate so strongly with audiences, and it all has to do with the fatherly instinct to protect their families.
“I think every dad secretly fantasizes about what they would do if someone ever f***ed with their kids,” the 43-year-old father of three said during a recent interview with Men’s Journal.
“Whenever you’re put in a position, or even imagine a position, where those kids are in danger, your mind goes to wild places,” Pratt continued. “I think that’s why those storylines resonate so strongly with fathers.”
The actor said he “would probably do the same f***ing thing” as his character Navy SEAL James Reece on “The Terminal List,” who seeks revenge on the show by going after the individuals responsible for murdering his family.
“Your partner sees you staring off into the distance and says, ‘Honey, what are you thinking about?’ And you say, ‘Oh, nothing.’ But what you’re really thinking is, ‘Where’s the duct tape and how deep is the trunk?'” he said. “I think that’s most dads. Or maybe that’s just me and I’m revealing something here.”
“But as someone who’s talked to a lot of dads, I think we all ask ourselves what we would do,” Pratt said. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” star shares a 10-year-old son, Jack, with his ex-wife Anna Faris and daughters Lyla, 2, and Eloise, 1, with his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger.
He mentioned the popular 2008 thriller “Taken” starring Liam Neeson, which he said was “such a hit” because “us dads are just like, ‘Yes! Get ’em! Use that special set of skills.'”
Pratt’s “The Terminal List” received mostly negative reviews from critics but was a huge hit with fans. The actor addressed one reviewer calling it an “unhinged revenge fantasy,” agreeing, “That’s exactly what it is in a way.”
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Showrunner David DiGilio said in July 2022 that the thriller series was not meant to be “a political show” despite critics trying to portray it that way.
“I will tell you the one bummer for me about the critical response is that it feels like it’s trying to politicize the show,” DiGilio said told SlashFilm, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “People from both sides of the aisle made the show.”
“The most important thing was making sure that we authentically portrayed the warrior ethos from all sides,” he continued. “We have people who have lived it and we have people who are coming into it and observing it through Katie, through Tony Layun, played by JD Pardo. On the other side, you have Reece, you have Ben, Hartley, all of these people who have lived inside it.”