Christy Radecic/AP/Shutterstock
An un-bee-lievable injury. Chris Pratt has revealed the circumstances that led to his swollen eye.
“So I’ve been following this bee lady on Instagram, she’s so cool and brave and she goes in front of these hives of bees and says, ‘They’re very calm today. I’m going to remove the bee, I’m going to use my bare hands to sift through the bees and look for the queen,’” the Guardians of the Galaxy star, 43, said in a Thursday, December 22, Instagram video, as he sat inside his house wearing sunglasses. “So it’s built up this false sense of security in me to where I said, ‘I think I can control bees, too.’”
The Parks and Recreation alum then saw a beehive earlier this month and thought he could easily imitate beekeeper Erika Thompson.
Courtesy of Chris Pratt/Instagram
“So I saw a beehive two days ago and I went toward it and the man standing next to me said, ‘Be careful, there’s bees,’ and I said, ‘These bees look very calm,’” Pratt continued in his social media video. “And I just stared at these bees and then one of them came out and stung me in the eyeball. So, anyways, f—k that bee lady.’”
The action star took off his sunglasses, revealing that his right eye had been swollen shut after he was stung. Pratt also gave Thompson a shout-out in his Instagram caption, writing, “@texasbeeworks you inspire me! But for real tho.”
The Texas native, for her part, was flattered by the Bride Wars actor’s imitation. “Wait—so now you’re going to be a plumber and a beekeeper @prattprattpratt?!” Thompson wrote via Instagram comment. “If you leave saving the bees to me and other professionals, you can focus on saving the Princess, Mario.”
Pratt — who is set to star as video game character Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. film adaptation — has not further addressed how he’s healing from his injury as he gears up to celebrate the holiday season with his family.
“Freddy the Elf is back for the 4th year. This year he brought his sister Angel. The magic of Christmas is well upon us,” the Avengers: Endgame star wrote via Instagram earlier this month, sharing a rare photo of son Jack, 10, and daughter Lyla, 2. “If anything goes missing in the house I’m blaming Angel.”
Pratt and ex-wife Anna Faris welcomed Jack in August 2012. Following their 2018 divorce, the Marvel actor moved on with Katherine Schwarzenegger, whom he wed in June 2019. The married couple shares daughters Lyla and Eloise, 7 months, and haven’t ruled out baby No. 3 together.
“I come from a big family, so I love the idea of having a lot of kids around and a big family,” the Gift of Forgiveness author, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly in October. “Whatever God has in his plan for us is what we’ll do.”