Chris Pratt responded to criticism of his Christian faith by quoting a Bible verse and comparing himself to Jesus Christ.
During a special New York screening of his newest movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, the 43-year-old was asked if he felt attacked over his religious beliefs.
“That’s the way it is, nothing new, 2,000 years ago they hated him [Jesus], too,” Pratt told Page Six.
“‘If I was of this world, they would love me just like that but as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world’. That’s John 15:18 through 20,” he added.
Pratt has faced backlash after he was believed to belong to Hillsong Church, an allegedly anti-LGBT+ megachurch.
Although, in 2022, he addressed rumours, saying he’d “never actually been” to the controversial Los Angeles establishment.
Several high-profile celebrities, including Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Justin Bieber, are said to have attended Hillsong services.
Pratt’s final film of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has been released in cinemas on 5 May.
Since its debut, some of its “disturbing” content has left fans questioning the film’s age rating.
Mild spoilers follow for Guardians of the Galaxy...
It was given a 12A age rating in the UK and a PG-13 rating in the US, which permits children to see it in cinemas.
However, the movie features several scenes of supernatural animal abuse, with CGI-rendered animals given disfiguring mutations, and grotesque mechanical appendages.
Another sequence sees the Guardians visit the Orgosphere, an interstellar mass made entirely of fleshy organic matter.
Several viewers called out the “dark” and “gory” content on social media, with many suggesting the film should have been given a higher age rating.
The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey awarded it four stars, arguing that it was the best MCU entry in years.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is out in cinemas now.
