Chris Pratt “isn’t a huge fan of strong humor.”
Jim O’Hare’s new book, Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreationoffers a clear conversation with him. Parks and Recreation Co-starring Chris Pratt.
In the book, Pratt recalls the moments when he felt the jokes on O’Heir’s character, Jerry Gergach, crossed the line from funny to mean.
“I miss you, more than some other people in particular, being concerned about Jerry Butts being something… mean,” O’Heir told Pratt in his conversation.
“I remember you saying, ‘Jimmy, are you okay with them?’… Do you remember that feeling at all?”
“I do, I do,” Pratt replied.
“I was worried about some of those moments because I care about you and I love you, and I knew some of the jokes were, like, mean. But they were funny. “If it’s a joke, it’s funny. But if it’s meant to be, well, I’m not a big fan of rude humor, and I just want to check you out.”
During seven seasons of the hit NBC sitcom, O’Heir’s character was often the center of jokes, with colleagues hilariously misnaming him as Gary, Larry, Lenny or Terry. In one instance, Pratt recalls stepping back on a particular scene.
“There was a time when you used a printer, and it would write something like, ‘Jerry Chose’ on a piece of paper,” Pratt shared.
“I just said, ‘I don’t think that’s funny. I don’t know about that.’ For the most part, I rolled with it, but there were a couple of times where I think it went too far, and I was worried for you.
O’Heir assured Pratt that he didn’t take the jokes personally but thanked Pratt for his thoughtfulness.
“Just so you know, it means the world to me. You checked me out, [Amy Poehler] Checked me in, and it’s not like I expected everyone to check in on me, but the fact that you did was pretty special,” O’Heir said.
“You have the biggest heart, and I don’t mean that from a medical point of view.”