Chris Pratt opens up about his body transformation on Parks and Recreation, find out what the actor said

Chris Pratt has spoken openly about how his body changed while he played Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. On Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast in August 2025, Pratt said he was not exercising, was drinking a lot, and was eating freely when he joined the show. Rather than hide the change, he asked the showrunner if he could make the character even heavier.

Chris Pratt described that moment by saying,

“Two things. One, I’m getting fat. Two, I want to get much fatter,”

The showrunner’s answer was, “Great.” He turned the idea into a challenge to himself. Pratt also explained why that period did not last. He said the early freedom of eating whatever he liked felt good at first, but over time, it made him feel unwell.

He recalled pushing eating habits to extremes “I was, like, eating four burgers at mealtime”

And later, he noticed negative effects on his energy and mood. That experience helped lead him to change his habits again when later roles after Parks and Recreation required a different look.

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Gaining weight was a deliberate choice for the role

Chris Pratt has told the story several times. After he saw his own weight increase, he spoke to Mike Schur and asked to push the idea further. He said it became “like a challenge.”

This was not accidental weight gain for Parks and Recreation; Pratt framed it as a choice to lean into the character’s comic look and to get laughs on set. Reporters noted that Pratt sometimes ate large amounts at table reads and catering, and that the cast reacted to his appetite with laughter.

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The indulgent phase affected how Chris Pratt felt

Chris Pratt has been direct about the downside. In past interviews for Parks and Recreation, he said the weight gain reached a point that affected his health and spirit, comments first reported when he discussed feeling low and having low energy.

On the 2025 podcast, he again said that while eating freely “felt the best” for a time, later it made him feel “terrible.” Those words describe how the same choice can give short-term enjoyment and later cause problems.

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Slimming down was necessary for roles after Parks and Recreation

When Chris Pratt moved to big-screen action roles like Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, he needed to lose weight and train differently. The show’s writers even explained Andy’s slimmer appearance by saying the character had quit drinking beer.

Pratt’s change in fitness helped him move from comic-support parts to leading roles that required a different physical profile. Reporters connected that shift with his rising film career.

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What he eats now

Chris Pratt described his current eating as plain and steady. He said he mostly eats chicken, rice, and vegetables, and that meals are now “boring” compared with the indulgent period.

He compared eating now to simply refueling, enough to get through the day, so he avoids the highs and lows that came with heavy eating before. Pratt’s present approach is meant to keep his energy steady and to support physical work for film roles.

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Chris Pratt’s remarks underline a simple point that actors sometimes change their bodies to fit parts, and those choices can be enjoyable at first but hard later. His story is concrete; he talked about asking to gain weight, the meals he ate, how he felt, and the later decision to slim down for other roles.