Chris Pratt showed his appreciation for military veterans while on the red carpet at the premiere of his new action thriller series The Terminal List on Wednesday night.
Per The Daily Wire, the 43-year-old actor shook hands with WWII veterans who attended the premiere and expressed his gratitude for their service to the country.
‘This is a wonderful group of extraordinary men of the greatest generation,’ Chris told the Associated Press.
Grateful: Chris Pratt showed his appreciation for military veterans while on the red carpet at the premiere of his new action thriller series The Terminal List on Wednesday night
The Jurassic Park: Dominion star continued, ‘These are WWII veterans and every year they take a pilgrimage back to Normandy.’
‘Thrilled to see them here. It was a surprise to me, I didn’t know they were going to be here. And it was an opportunity to kind of just catch up with them.’
‘I’ve been following their story. And I saw them and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we got to spend time together,” he added.
Honoring them: Per The Daily Wire, the 43-year-old actor shook hands with WWII veterans who attended the premiere and expressed his gratitude for their service to the country. (L-R) Nate Boyer, WWII Veteran Larry Stevens, David DiGilio, Chris Pratt, WWII Veteran Pete Corrao, Jack Carr, WWII Veteran Bruce Campbell, Jared Shaw, WWII Veteran Andre Chappaz, WWII Veteran Art Del Rey, and Taylor Kitsch
‘You know, there’s not enough time in the world. Certainly on a press line where everything’s fifteen second bites. I’d like to really sit down and really, really talk with them and honor them for their great sacrifice.’
In a clip shared by Variety, Chris was seen shaking hands with a uniformed veteran who told the performer that he had been a member of the U.S. Army who was stationed in the Pacific.
‘You look fantastic, you look sharp,’ the Guardians of the Galaxy star told him. ‘You look fantastic sir, thank you.’
‘This is a wonderful group of extraordinary men of the greatest generation,’ Chris told the Associated Press
The Parks and Recreation alum also heaped praise on military veterans in an interview with Reuters.
Chris told the outlet that he had an ‘absolute affinity for our Navy SEAL community, for our men and women in uniform and especially for our special operators and all the go through and all they sacrifice.’
While on the red carpet, the Minnesota native posed for photos with veterans including The Terminal List author and former Navy SEAL Jack Carr, United States Army Green Beret Nate Boyer and WWII veterans Larry Stevens, Pete Corrao, Bruce Campbell, Andre Chappaz, and Art Del Rey.
High praise: The Parks and Recreation alum also heaped praise on military veterans in an interview with Reuters
Based on Carr’s 20 bestselling book of the same name, the Amazon Prime series follows Navy SEAL James Reece (Pratt), whose entire platoon is killed in an ambush during a high-stakes covert mission.
The soldier returns home to his family and finds himself with conflicting memories of the ambush. He struggles with guilt and questions about his culpability in their deaths until he ultimately discovers there are dark forces working against him that will do anything to keep the truth buried.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by DiGilio, the show also stars Taylor Kitsch, Constance Wu, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Riley Keough and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Adaptation: Based on Carr’s 20 bestselling book of the same name, the Amazon Prime series follows Navy SEAL James Reece (Pratt), whose entire platoon is killed in an ambush during a high-stakes covert mission
In addition to starring, Chris also served as an executive producer on the film. DiGilio told Military.com that he along with the actor and Fuqua made it a priority to work with real Special Ops and Marines veterans on the series.
He explained, ‘As we moved into the writers room, I made sure to have military veteran writers in the room.’
DiGilio added, ‘Special hat tip to Max Adams, who’s a former Army Ranger, current screenwriter and producer. As we moved into prep, Antoine Fuqua had a great friend who was a big help as a technical adviser. I don’t think I’m allowed to use his name in interviews, so we should say redacted, I guess.’
Executive producer: In addition to starring, Chris also served as an executive producer on the film
The screenwriter said that former Navy SEAL Jack Shaw, who worked with Chris on Zero Dark Thirty, initially gave Carr’s book to the actor, which led him to pursue an adaptation.
In the film, Shaw plays Ernest ‘Boozer’ Vickers and served as a co-producer and techical advisor.
‘Jared Shaw, who had been so instrumental at the onset and the concept phase, came back in full bore,’ DiGilio said. “Jared helped us get Ray Mendoza, who’s a former SEAL and incredible technical adviser who’s worked on huge movies like Lone Survivor.’
Real life experience: DiGilio told Military.com that he along with the actor and Fuqua made it a priority to work with real Special Ops and Marines veterans on the series. Chris pictured with members of the cast and crew
“On the stunt side, we had Keith Woulard, who’s also a former Navy SEAL, who became our series stunt coordinator,’ DiGilio said. ‘Aside from the behind-the-scenes talent, we also really had a mandate to hire as many actors with military veteran backgrounds as possible.’
‘When it was all told,” he said, ‘there were over 25 actors with military backgrounds in the show, including most of Alpha Platoon, who you meet in episode one.
‘Then, in episode six, we have the FBI hostage rescue team pursuing James Reece, and I think everyone in the HRT also has a military background.’
The Terminal List will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on July 1.
Instrumental in the process: The screenwriter said that former Navy SEAL Jack Shaw, who worked with Chris on Zero Dark Thirty, initially gave Carr’s book to the actor, which led him to pursue an adaptation. Chris seen with Jack in the series
Coming soon: The Terminal List will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on July 1