After every new child he welcomes, Chris Pratt ends up with a lung infection. According to him, his father-in-law, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and his penchant for cigars are to blame.
The father of four, who shares three children with his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, was asked about Arnold during Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show.
Pratt said The Terminator star is rarely seen without a cigar in his mouth, including when he’s around his family.
“He’s always smoking one on set, in his car, and in my living room,” the Parks & Recreation alum explained. “When we have a baby, he shows up with a Cuban cigar. I have asthma, so I should not ever smoke cigars, but I do because I feel pressure from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“So, every time I have a child, I have a cigar and about a week later, I have a lung infection,” he added. “It’s a nice little ritual we have!”
Pratt and Katherine are the parents of two daughters, Lyla, four, and Eloise, two, and one son named Ford, who was born in November. The Guardians of the Galaxy star shares a 12-year-old son, Jack, with his ex-wife, Anna Faris.
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He’s previously opened up about his relationship with his father-in-law. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this week, Pratt confessed that his wife is a stricter parent than he is because of her upbringing. The comment came after Kimmel spoke about how strict Arnold was as a father, noting that the actor once threw his son Patrick’s mattress off the balcony and into a swimming pool because Patrick didn’t make his bed.
“Katherine inherited some of that Austrian toughness,” he said. “So maybe in that regard, as a parenting team, she is kind of more authoritarian.”
Pratt has also shared how he’s turned to Arnold for advice as a fellow father and Hollywood star.
“He has the experience of raising kids in the spotlight and being an actor, a well-known person, and a celebrity,” he told Extra in May 2024. “It’s really great to have the wisdom of his experience to go to and to talk to about certain things that normally I would talk to my brother or my cousin or people that I grew up with and they might not be able to relate with certain things.”
Earlier this week, Pratt quipped about seeing his brother-in-law Patrick’s nude scene in the latest season of The White Lotus.
“I know where my eyes went — I’m not blood-related to him, I was looking at that d***, bro,” he quipped to E! News. “No, he looks amazing. Obviously, he’s a physical specimen, but also he’s a really solid actor because the character he’s playing is completely different than who he is.”