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"James Gunn has defended the casting of Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy. He praised Marvel Studios for allowing him to give the lead role of Star-Lord to the lesser known Parks and Recreation actor.   Discussing the project with fans on Facebook, he was accused of casting &amp;quot;typical studio system actors&amp;quot;. &amp;quot;Chris Pratt auditioned against A-list big-time movie stars for the most desired role around and Marvel was ballsy enough to back me when I wanted to hire him,&amp;quot; said Gunn. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll love them forever for going with me on that.  &amp;quot;No other studio in the world would have ever taken that risk. Nor would any other studio in the world ever have hired me (or Joss Whedon, etc) to do this type of film. Same with the others. &amp;quot;And, to be completely frank, I&amp;#039;ve been way more pressured to cast &amp;#039;names&amp;#039; on nearly every independent film I&amp;#039;ve ever done.&amp;quot;  He added that Pratt has been shaping up for the role.  Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Ophelia Lovibond and Michael Rooker will also feature in the movie. Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled for release on August 1, 2014. Image gallery - Marvel Studios Phase Two preview:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/guardians-of-the-galaxy/news/a478831/guardians-of-the-galaxy-james-gunn-defends-chris-pratt-casting/>