'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' news: Chris Pratt admits he almost passed up on his big Marvel gig

For some sort of weird reason, "Guardians of the Galaxy" just worked pretty well with fan clamor, enough for Marvel Studios to greenlight a sequel scheduled to be released this summer. The bulk of the fascination is rooted from the undeniable chemistry among the space misfits — but just what would the team look like without Chris Pratt taking on the leadership mantle as Star-Lord? It is arguably difficult to imagine.

That was almost the case, however, as the "Parks and Recreation" actor spills the beans on almost passing up on what is arguably his biggest role to date in terms of his career. As it turns out, his sitcom stint and not-superhero image at that time were major factors in his presumed chances in auditioning for the role. And apparently, even director James Gunn was not convinced of him taking on a risky character.

"Guardians had come around, and I passed," Pratt said. "James Gunn [the director] passed on me, too. When they announced it, I looked it up and saw a list of the top 20 dudes in Hollywood who might play Peter Quill. I was not on that list. I did not want to go in and embarrass myself," Pratt admitted in an extensive interview with Vanity Fair for his profile.

But things started to turn around when the actor's agent reminded him of the role and just how it fits perfectly in the kind of genre he wants to tap into. From then on, he collected his wits and strode into the room to audition, equipped with his own version of the cocky Star-Lord.

"Once you get smart about auditioning, you learn to audition before they say 'Action.' You walk into the room as the character. You let them think the person you are is close to the character they want. You make them think you already are that guy. Gunn was like, 'Damn, this is it,'" he continued.

If fans were to ask, Pratt is superb in taking charge of the Guardians currently composed of original members like Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista). And things are only tipped to get better moving forward with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" reuniting the team to take on a bigger mission and probably even finding out who Peter Quill's real dad is (spoiler alert, it is Ego, played by Kurt Russell). Star-Lord's squad is also growing, which means more heads for him to manage with the addition of Yondu (Michael Rooker), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and even Mantis (Pom Klementieff).

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is set to debut in cinemas on May 5.