"Parks and Recreation" star Chris Pratt revealed he almost skipped the audition for "Guardians of the Galaxy." Could you imagine someone else starring as Peter Quill? He covers the September issue of Esquire, and spoke of his role in the film.

"When 'Guardians of the Galaxy' was pitched to me, I said, 'I don't think so,'" he told the mag. "I just didn't picture myself getting the role." 

"I didn't want to go and embarrass myself like I did when I auditioned for 'G.I. Joe' a couple of years previously," Pratt added. "I went in there, and halfway through I saw the director's eyes just glaze over. It made sense-I was a little heavy and out of shape. I was not gonna play someone from 'G.I. Joe.' I did not look like a 'G.I. Joe' action figure come to life."

He also described his work-out regimen.

"I can do 40-inch box jumps now," Pratt boasted. "Action-hero physical stuff. Jumping that high feels really good. You see a giant hillside, and you think, I wanna get up that. You see a building, you think, I could climb that. When you get in shape, the world around you becomes things you wanna jump on and climb up."

Pratt, who is married to Anna Faris and has a 23-month old son, Jack, recently spoke about parenting with PEOPLE.

"He was crying the other day, and I had him on my lap. So we watched this 15-minute highlight reel of Grave Digger on YouTube, and dude, it was so badass! He and I both were just wide-eyed. Now he goes around saying, 'Monster trucks, monster trucks!'" 

Can you believe Pratt almost didn't take the role in "Guardians of the Galaxy?" Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.