Chris Pratt remembers special childhood Christmas

Chris Pratt gets choked up thinking about the year his parents pulled out all the stops for Christmas.

Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris may lap up the A-list lifestyle now, but when he was child he often went without.

Despite not having a privileged upbringing, Chris' parents Kathleen and Daniel made sure their children's Christmases were always special.

"When I was a kid we didn't have a whole lot," he told Britain's Metro newspaper. "My parents really played the long game one Christmas, letting us know we just weren't going to be able to get anything from Christmas - we didn't have the money.

"We all knew that. We just got to the point: don't ask for things. And when we came down on Christmas morning... We got everything. I got a mountain bike, a bow and arrow, a microscope - all the things I wanted. They had kept the presents from us and let us think for months we wouldn't be having a good Christmas.

"I think they just saved up, maybe they donated blood or something. It makes me almost choked up thinking about it," he added.

This year Chris will be spending the festive season with his wife, actress Anna Faris, and their four-year-old son Jack, enjoying a "sandy, beautiful, tropical blue Christmas" on a tropical island. Classic films will no doubt feature, with the 37-year-old listing Die Hard, The Santa Claus movies and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as some of his favorites.

He's also a fan of 1983's A Christmas Story because, "It reminds me so much of my childhood and my son looks like a younger version of the protagonist, Ralphie.