Actor Chris Pratt knew he had to lose weight when casting directors rejected him midway through auditions because of his size.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star got in shape for the film with a strict diet and workout plan, and now insists his excess fat was preventing him from becoming a leading man.

Pratt tells Reuters, "I had been embarrassed doing auditions where I was 35 or 30 pounds overweight and I wasn't mentally or physically sharp. Like G.I. Joe, I could see their eyes glaze over halfway through the audition and that hurts your feelings...

"I didn't know who I was and what I was capable of doing. I had done a lot of sidekick characters, I had put on a lot of weight over the eight years I had been with my wife. We'd been in love and eating fabulous foods and drinking wine and I was getting more work than before by playing the schlubby sidekick characters."