James Gunn Says The Hate Chris Pratt Gets 'Absolutely Infuriates' Him

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn defended Chris Pratt as he said some of the hate the actor receives online 'absolutely infuriates' him.

Gunn has worked with Pratt on the two existing Guardians films as well as the upcoming third instalment set to be released next year, so it's safe to say he's spent his fair share of time with the actor - definitely more so than most of the keyboard warriors who target Pratt from behind their screens.

The actor is regularly branded as Hollywood's 'Worst Chris' when compared to other stars like Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Chris Pine, and he's also come under fire in the past for his rumoured involvement with the Hillsong Church, which many celebrities have accused of being anti-LGBTQ.

Some Marvel fans made their dislike for the actor clear as they called for Pratt to be replaced in his role of Star-Lord, but Gunn has consistently stood by him and made clear that wasn't going to happen.

After Pratt was branded the 'worst' of his fellow Chrises, Gunn insisted the hierarchies weren't true and told Men's Health: "It absolutely infuriates me. I know all those guys, and I like all those guys. But Chris Pratt is seriously one of the best people in my life."

Gunn went on to sing his praises for Pratt, saying the actor is 'unspeakably kind to people' and pointing out he 'goes out of his way to help kids'.

"He's an especially loving father, and there's just a lot of stuff that people have literally just made up about him," Gunn continued. "About his politics, about who he is, about what he believes of other people. I mean it's, it's just insane. And it really gets me very, very, angry."

As well as his behaviour in day-to-day life, Gunn praised Pratt's dedication to his roles after most recently working with him on Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

He commented: "As I was going through edits, I was like, 'Wow, people don't see this coming from this guy,' because it is a much more raw, emotional performance than I think he's ever done before. And he's just so, so good," he says. "Part of my responsibility is to take care of the actors, and I just feel like what I'm seeing from him is just so beautiful. It's really, really beautiful work.

"You see that actors and franchises who are doing it for the fifth or sixth time, or whatever they're doing, they just stop caring and start collecting a paycheque. That's hard even for me. And he's the opposite of that."

Pratt has previously made light of being dubbed the 'worst Chris' following a poll on Twitter.