Funnyman Chris Pratt, best known for his work on the sitcom Parks and Recreation, is tackling his first superhero role with Star-Lord (aka Peter Quill) in Marvel's upcoming sci-fi epic Guardians of the Galaxy. This weekend, you can see him in the comedy Delivery Man, where he plays Vince Vaughn's best friend. While doing press, he revealed why he decided to take on the half-alien, half-human leader of Marvel's next big gamble.

According to him, it all had to do with the Studio. In fact, he didn't even read the script before signing on for this coveted part in director James Gunn's mammoth undertaking.

"Just the fact that he was part of the Marvel brand was really exciting. I was signed up to do the movie before I was even allowed to read a script, so it wasn't like something about this particular character that got me to do it. The fact that it was a Marvel movie is what got me to do it."

The gamble paid off as Pratt learned more about the history of Star-Lord.

"Granted, once I did read it there were so many things about the character that I love, and one thing is that he's very much a kid at heart. He's like a man-child. And I like the idea that he's got a false sense of bravado. Deep down inside he's lonely and desperate. But on the outside he walks around like he's big and tough, and I don't think he does a great job of convincing everybody that he's not just a scared little child."

Helping craft this different type of take on the superhero mythos, Chris reveals he put his faith in the hands of his director.

"I was really in James' hands. I've never done anything like it. I learned early on to trust him."

Chris Pratt had ballooned up to almost 300 pounds during the shooting of Delivery Man. He had to lose that weight fast to take on the more traditional svelte figure of a comic book hero. How did he handle it?

"I think I'm handling it better than my body."