James Gunn Made Chris Pratt Cry During Guardians Of The Galaxy 2's Final Baby Groot Scene

This post contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

After nearly a decade of spending time out in the far reaches of space with the unlikeliest of heroes, it's a little sad to be saying goodbye to the misfit marauders from Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy" films. We've danced along with Star-Lord to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love," we've laughed at Drax the Destroyer saying ridiculous one-liners, and we've cried right alongside Rocket Raccoon as he coped with his tragic past. Indeed, one of the most unexpected things about James Gunn's trilogy is just how surprisingly emotional it gets at certain points, and just how lovable these characters have become to a generation of comic book movie fans.

Everyone has their favorite member of the Guardians for various reasons, but there's simply no denying that Baby Groot is the most adorable one of the bunch. After the death of the original Groot in the first film, Baby Groot sprouts up from a tiny pot boogieing down to the Jackson 5 in a moment of pure joy. Throughout all of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2," Star-Lord and Rocket do their best to parent and take care of the little guy, and try to keep him from accidentally blowing them all up.

For Chris Pratt, he became incredibly attached to Baby Groot, to the point where he brought his own experience as a new father to help him connect and emote with what was essentially a very cute talking tree. Sneakily, Gunn even gave Pratt a small piece of direction that got the actor to turn on the waterworks during one particularly touching scene.

Over the course of the trilogy, Chris Pratt has definitely shown his range as an action star, a comic foil, and a more than capable dramatic actor. The interesting part is that nearly all of his best crying has been over Baby Groot or Rocket Raccoon, not over any actual human beings. That aside, one of the sweetest moments in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2" comes when Star-Lord comforts Baby Groot when he needs it most. To get Pratt to really connect when the time came, James Gunn recalled telling the star to think about his own experience as a father. The director told BBC Radio 1:

"The one thing I remember is talking to Chris Pratt when he had little Baby Groot on him and to think about his son Jack. And the minute I said that, Chris was looking down and he just got these tears in his eyes because he loves Jack so much. And that's about the only direction I ever remember giving besides, you know, going up to Chris and going, 'Just don't suck this time. Do it again but suck less.'"

That little bit of advice worked, and the scene makes it even more believable that Star-Lord basically becomes Baby Groot's adoptive Dad all the way through his moody teenage years that we see in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" post-credits scene. 

When Rocket passes away briefly towards the end of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," Pratt goes all-in with his performance, scream-crying with the best of them. Who knows, delivering what amounts to his most emotional scene in the entire trilogy may not have been as accessible for Pratt if he hadn't already unlocked something earlier on with Baby Groot. Now if Pratt could only get the chance to cry in front of an actual person. 

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is currently playing in theaters.