Lake Stevens Tutors Come To You

The story of “local boy makes good” is always a popular one, but one hometown hero whom this headline really fits hails from the little city of Lake Stevens, Washington, named for the lake it’s built around.

Actor Chris Pratt, known for his comic take on TV and film roles, is perhaps best known as the main character in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, a breakout role for him that has propelled him into the stratosphere of film stardom. But his career really started during school in Lake Stevens, where he was known as a good student, an athlete and class clown.

He’s said in interviews that he was inspired to start acting after he saw his older brother on stage in a Christmas musical, and no doubt his brother tutored him in some of the fine points of elementary school stagecraft.

But it was not until after Pratt left Lake Stevens and moved to Maui that he got his first lucky break. While working as a waiter, he met actress/director Rae Dawn Chong, who gave him his first role in “Cursed Part 3,” a small budget horror movie she was directing. He moved to Los Angeles and soon began picking up roles in TV series, including “Everwood” and “The O.C.”

His next big break came in 2009 when he was cast in what was supposed to be a short-term role on “Parks and Recreation.” But the producers liked Pratt so much that they offered him a permanent slot on the TV show. He went on to movie roles in “Wanted,” “Moneyball,” “10 Years,” “Jurassic World,” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” Recently, he has also been featured in “Passengers” and “The Magnificent Seven,” both released in 2016.

He became one of America’s most popular stars in 2014, with the release of “The Lego Movie,” in which he voiced the role of Emmet Brickowski, and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” portraying Peter Quill/Star-Lord, making him the star of two of the highest-grossing movies for that year. In 2017, he reprised his role as Star-Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” and he will play the role again in another upcoming film based on Marvel superheroes.

He met his wife, actress Anna Faris, during the shooting of the romantic comedy “Take Me Home Tonight” in 2007 — and as it turns out, they both hail from cities in Washington state, since Faris is from Edmonds, just 25 miles from Lake Stevens. The couple married in 2009.

Pratt continues to have close ties to his hometown, and in late 2016 raised $500,000 to build the Dan Pratt Memorial Teen Center in Lake Stevens, to be named after his late father. Pratt visited the Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County to deliver the check in person. He has also given money to the Seattle Children’s Hospital orthopedic center and other good causes.

Pratt achieved his dreams with hard work and dedication, and with the help of Lakes Stevens tutors, students can reach their goals with at every level of their academic careers.