When Chris Pratt first received the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 mix tape from James Gunn in the making of the first Guardians of the Galaxy, he treated it exactly as Peter Quill did: he obsessed over it, and listened to every single song over and over and over again. Given that the 2014 movie ends with Quill revealing a copy of Awesome Mix Vol. 2, you might think that Pratt has spent years absorbing the new tracks for the upcoming sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but this actually wasn't the case. He actually purposefully distanced himself from the song selections, given the follow-ups close proximity to the first movie on the timeline. The actor recently told me,
It wasn't as important for the character to have that engrained in his brain the same way. Because the movie picks up a couple months after the events of the first movie, I would have only had that tape for a couple of months. So I listened to it a couple of times, but otherwise I was allowing myself to really hear it on the day and let it be fresh and new and exciting for me the way it would be for the character.
Earlier this week I attended the Los Angeles press day for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and while sitting down with Chris Pratt talked about his approach to the new movie's soundtrack. I specifically asked him if he treated the new songs differently because of the limited amount of time between the events of Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, and he entirely confirmed my suspicions -- noting that he really let his experience listening to the tracks on set be the most influential experience with the music.
When you break it down, it's really a rational approach to the soundtrack of the new movie on Chris Pratt's part, as there is a certain proportionality at play. Peter Quill listened to Awesome Mix Vol. 1 repeatedly for 26 years, but because that wasn't an amount of time the actor could match, he used what time he did have to completely obsess over the music. By comparison, Peter had less than one percent of that time with Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (about two months) by the time Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 begins, so it makes sense that he wouldn't be quite as familiar with the new tracks.
As Chris Pratt also noted, Awesome Mix Vol. 2 isn't the only thing that Star-Lord is keeping in rotation. I asked the actor if he believes Peter Quill is also still listening to Awesome Mix Vol. 1, and he told me,
I think so. I personally don't, but I know he would.
You can watch Chris Pratt talk about the difference in approach to the music of Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by watching the video below.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is on the path to arrive in theaters here in the United States on May 5th , with the film's soundtrack available for purchase starting this Friday, April 21st. You can find the full tracklisting RIGHT HERE, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for a whole lot more from our interviews with the cast and filmmakers!
