Chris Pratt has revealed he battled E. coli and went without food or water for four days while filming The Terminal List season 2 on a small sailboat, describing the experience as the most gruelling of his career.
The 47-year-old actor returns as Navy SEAL James Reece in the Amazon Prime Video series, four years after the first season. Speaking to Metro, Pratt recalled a moment on location in Africa where his illness inadvertently added to the realism of his character's situation.
'This is gonna get gross'
'There was a moment on the boat where I was really suffering from E. coli, and this is gonna get gross, but, you know, if I had a sip of water, it was not going to stay in my body,' Pratt said. 'And it was not going to come out of my mouth.'
The actor said he decided to push through the sickness rather than halt production. 'I was like, "You know what? I'm just gonna gruel this out. It's four days. I'm just gonna be dehydrated and sick on this boat." And that was really hard. But we just went for it.'
Explaining the practical challenges of the shoot, Pratt added: 'It was a small sailboat, an authentic, real sailboat; there was no support boat with a bathroom. If you needed to go to the bathroom, it was gonna be, like, a 40-minute shutdown and turnaround, so I just didn't eat or drink anything for four days to knock that off.'
Creator Jack Carr, a former Navy SEAL sniper, responded with 'Method acting,' to which Pratt agreed, 'Yeah, real method.'
Season two storyline
Season two continues the story from Carr's best-selling novels, with Reece now on a quest for violent redemption across East and North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, working with the CIA to take down a resurgent terrorist organisation. The season co-stars Constance Wu and Luke Hemsworth.
Pratt described the season as 'incredibly challenging for multiple reasons', particularly because the team travelled so far around the world. 'It was a grind. It was very ambitious and incredibly rewarding, but yes, challenging,' he said.
Discussing the responsibility of adapting the books, Pratt said: 'Authenticity is something we all deeply care about, and not just trying to get the little details right about combat or about behaviour or gear and all that stuff. We're really trying to make sure that fans of this book feel as though this was made for them.'
Military authenticity on set
Carr said the military background of cast and crew members strengthened their connection to the show. 'Everyone with those backgrounds is so invested,' he said. 'For them, it's not just a show. We wanna make the show for someone who has done those jobs, so when they sit down and crack a drink at the end of the day, put their feet up, they can watch this compelling story and not get drawn out of it because we messed something up.'
Jared Shaw, an actor, producer, stuntman and former Navy SEAL for over 10 years, said veterans are hired both in front of and behind the cameras. 'I have a lot of buddies who are currently still serving, and a lot who have got out, and for me, that's the biggest compliment: when one of my buddies reaches out and says, "Hey, we see you; we see what you're doing",' he said.
Showrunner David DiGilio added: 'We feel like, if we can set the bar for military authenticity and great espionage storytelling, then that will not only help our show; it will help Hollywood in general.'
Reception and future plans
Season two holds a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while critics gave it 60%. Season one received a 94% audience score and 42% from critics.
Despite mixed reviews, the team remains optimistic about the show's future. Carr, who has published eight novels in the series alongside spin-offs, said: 'We'd love to make as many shows as we can and get better with each one.'
Pratt expressed enthusiasm for continuing the franchise. 'I hope to do this as long as they'll let us, and not only playing James Reece but also taking other characters and exploring some of their stories,' he said. 'There is an audience for this type of storytelling, and it's our honour to serve them, and we will serve them as long as Amazon lets us, and we've got a s**t load of ideas, so we're not going anywhere.'
All eight episodes of The Terminal List season 2 are now available to stream on Prime Video.
