When it was announced that her character will be hauling a life-size Chris Pratt through cosmic realms, Karen Gillan lifted her weight in more ways than one during production for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The 35-year-old woman was charged with raising a 35-pound life-like facsimile of Chris for sequences in which his character, Star-Lord/Peter Quill, was supposed to be asleep.
Karen was seen holding her co-star with the other Guardians in several of the film’s trailers, which were published ahead of the film’s May 3 release date.
Director of the Marvel series James Gunn noted in behind-the-scenes video of the dummy that many of the team were surprised at how accurate the stand-in truly was.
He posted a video showing the actors holding the doll and recording the upper part of its body as if it were living.
James captioned the footage: ‘Our editor @FredRaskin asked us, about two weeks into editing this scene, where the wires were.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr6ayu5vbrB
‘He didn’t realize this incredible effect by @LegacyEffects wasn’t actually @prattprattpratt. Our special effects & makeup teams put their hearts into this film like everyone else. #GotGVol3 [sic].’
One of the clips showed Chris having a look at his double act and seemed surprised by the likeness.
The filmmaker added the words ‘Chris was frightened,’ as well as informing fans that the footage also showed Karen’s first time holding the figurine in her arms.
Fans couldn’t believe what they were witnessing as they offered their thoughts on the movie secret in the comments area.
One said: ‘I just wanna know what happens to this terrifying prop after the film wrapped. Sitting in someone’s bathtub? Left on the side of the road? Sitting at James’s kitchen table? [sic].’
Another joked: ‘If @prattprattpratt ever needs to fake his death he has the perfect replacement [sic].’
‘This is bloody amazing. I watched the film today and wondered how it was done. This is even better than I imagined [sic],’ a social media user shared underneath the clip.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is available to watch in cinemas now.