Anna Faris released her book, Unqualified, this week, and as promised, it contains some candid revelations about her marriages (yes, both of them) and her career in the spotlight.
The book contains a foreword by Chris Pratt, whom she also names in the dedication: “To Chris. Your wisdom and strength have made me a better person.” The book isn’t really meant for him, though. As she explains in the introduction, the actress wrote the text for her fans. “I want to help you with your love life. … I’ve been doling out romantic advice my whole life,” she notes.
Of course, she realizes that her current single status might give people pause when it comes to taking her advice, but “heartbreak and rejection are communal,” she writes. “Love is life’s greatest mystery and wildest adventure. God, that’s so f**king corny.” Perhaps, but as she points out in the intro, “Hearing other people’s problems is in its own weird way, comforting.”
So, here are some of the problems, lessons, and experiences she shares in Unqualified:
Her First Marriage Ended Over the Phone
Faris met actor Ben Indra on the set of Lovers Lane and married him in 2004. But she admits that things never seemed quite right. “It felt as if we were play-acting at being married,” she writes.
Faris then met Pratt on the set of Take Me Home Tonight. Though she was still married at the time, she says there was an immediate connection with her new on-screen flame. And it became increasingly clear that she and Indra were not right for each other. Even costar Topher Grace stepped in to question the marriage, asking Faris flat out, “What the f*ck are you doing with that guy?” She says she could only reply, “I don’t know.”
She finally realized that she needed to end things with Indra. “I called Ben and told him over the phone that I was leaving him, and then went to set and was like, ‘Hey everybody! I just left my husband.’ Pretty soon I was knocking on Chris’ door and was basically like, ‘Hi. I’m ready to get boned.’”
She and Pratt Were “Hot and Heavy” From the Start
Newly single, Faris didn’t hesitate to spark things up with Pratt. “When we finally got together, it was hot and heavy in a way that I’d never experienced before,” she writes. “You might think that, fresh off an almost decade-long relationship, I would be hesitant to move on to the next, but I couldn’t have fallen more headfirst into my feelings for Chris.”
He apparently felt the same way. Though he left for a European backpacking trip with his Everwood costars soon after they started dating, he called her from a train in Prague and “seemingly out of nowhere he said, ‘I just love you so much. I just want to marry you.'”
They eloped in 2009.
Her Son’s Health Battle Brought Them Closer
Just a few years later, in August 2012, Pratt and Faris’ son, Jack, was born prematurely. Arriving nine weeks early, he weighed less than four pounds and had several health issues.
Faris recalls, “The pediatric neurosurgeon sat Chris and me down to tell us that Jack had some severe brain bleeding and there was a chance that he could be developmentally disabled. I was in complete shock. … So Chris and I did what we could, which was hold hands and hope and face it together. These moments can be hard on couples, but for us it really brought us together. It felt like it was us against the world.”
Five years later, Jack is a quirky kiddo whose parents are devoted to co-parenting together. The proud mom writes, “Today, Jack is at a beautiful age. He’s a really good kid and he’s happy and delicious and likes cuddles.”
Those Jennifer Lawrence Rumors Got to Her
Faris and Pratt faced another hurdle during the marriage when Pratt filmed Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence and rumors of an affair began circulating. Though she knew the chatter was baseless, she says, “I didn’t want to pay attention to the stories but I couldn’t block them all out, either. I’d always taken pride in our relationship, and the coverage, even though it was just false rumors, was making me feel insecure. … [O]f course it’s hurtful and also embarrassing when people are saying your husband is cheating on you — even if it’s patently untrue. You still feel and look like a fool.”
She Can’t See Herself as “Hot”
Faris had insecurities outside of her marriage too. As she writes in her book, she also struggles with body image. “Even if I’m in hot pants and my hair and makeup are done and I’m playing a character who feels hot, I just can’t embrace it,” she explains. “I just think you have to take yourself really seriously to identify as hot, and to this day I have too much wrapped in the idea of being the incredibly insecure 15-year-old [girl] who nobody wants to hook up with.”
You can check out even more revelations in Anna Faris’ book, Unqualified, which is in bookstores now.
Do you plan to read Anna Faris’ book? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photos via Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb + Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
