Chris Pratt believes audiences are craving a different kind of storytelling from Hollywood, and he says the success of “The Terminal List” proves it. During a recent appearance on “The Tonight Show,” the actor told Jimmy Fallon why he thinks the first season connected so strongly with viewers.
“It connected with an audience that … we kind of look at it as it’s a bit of an underserved audience. We just wanted to make an unapologetic, patriotic, kick-ass action show and the audience really turned up,” Pratt said.
Pratt described that audience as one that has not always received the stories it wants. In his view, the show’s direct approach to patriotism and action helped it find viewers who enthusiastically supported the first season.
The actor was also candid about the limits of his own experience with the military world portrayed by the series. He explained that his understanding of combat came from entertainment rather than personal service.
“You know, everything I learned about combat, I learned from watching movies and stuff. I have never been to Fallujah or anything like that.”
That made the involvement of former Navy SEALs and other veterans especially important to the production. Pratt said their experience gave them a discerning perspective on how combat should look and how military personnel should behave on screen.
“These guys have a real eye for combat based on their experience, and it’s really authentic … Veterans will come up and say, ‘You know, I served. I did a couple deployments and the action, the behavior, the tactics, the jargon, the decorum, all of it is really authentic,’ and I think that’s why people like it,” Pratt continued.
Pratt said the series is adapted from a book series centered on a Navy SEAL. To support that foundation, the production brought real Navy SEALs into the process rather than relying exclusively on what the actor had learned from action movies.
The scale of that participation extended throughout the production and into its leadership. Pratt cited the number of veterans working on the show and noted that special operators also served as executive producers.
“We have 17 veterans on our production … Two or three special operators that are executive producers,” Pratt said, adding, “We just have Navy SEALS all over the place, it’s really cool.”
Pratt also used his talk show appearance to tease what viewers could expect from Season 2 of “The Terminal List.” Before explaining the new direction, he recapped the dark and deeply personal story that powered the first season.
“So, the first season was really this dark psychological thriller about a Navy SEAL who gets vengeance on these people who are responsible for a conspiracy that, you know, wiped out his platoon and killed his family and gave him a tumor in his brain. So, that’s the story,” Pratt began.
The first season followed the character as he pursued the people responsible for the conspiracy and the destruction surrounding him. By its conclusion, that pursuit had reached its decisive endpoint.
“And it ends with him basically getting vengeance on everybody on his list and sailing away,” he continued.
According to Pratt, the second season expands beyond the psychological revenge thriller structure of the first. The story shifts toward espionage, international settings and the broader scope of a global spy thriller.
“So, the second [season] based on the book becomes more of like a globe-trotting global spy thriller. It’s like — it’s about espionage. It’s international,” Pratt said.
Season 2 of “The Terminal List” premiered on Prime on Oct. 21. Pratt’s comments tied the show’s appeal to its patriotic action, its focus on an audience he considers underserved and the military authenticity contributed by veterans and former Navy SEALs.