Chris Pratt Almost Starred in Mike Schur’s Field of Dreams Series
Mike Schur built it, but Chris Pratt did not come.
According to Puck, Pratt was originally set to star in Schur’s now-cancelled series adaptation of the 1989 baseball drama Field of Dreams — presumably in the role of Ray Kinsella, played in the movie by Kevin Costner — until Pratt “abruptly dropped out” of the project.
More from TVLine
Days of Our Lives' Abigail Mystery Deepens: Who Is AnnaLynne McCord Really Playing?
Emilia Clarke Espionage Thriller PONIES Gets Series Order at Peacock
Homicide Finally Hits Streaming: Here's One Episode to Get You Hooked
This casting would have served as a Parks and Recreation reunion between Schur, who co-created the hit NBC comedy, and Pratt, who spent seven seasons playing lovable slacker Andy Dwyer.
TV Roles Almost Played by Someone Else
Puck also reports that Peacock wasn’t confident enough in Pratt’s replacement, Bill Heck (The Old Man), to move forward with a project that would reportedly cost $15 million per episode. A large portion of that cost reportedly came from Schur’s desire to actually film the show at Boston’s Fenway Park.
While this is the first mention of Pratt’s involvement in the Peacock adaptation, Schur previously revealed several familiar faces we would have seen on Field of Dreams, including some big names from his personal roster.
“Andre Braugher was going to play James Earl Jones’ role,” Schur said during an October 2023 appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast. “Kristen Bell was going to be in it. Nick Offerman was going to be in it. [William Jackson] Harper, who played Chidi in The Good Place, was going to be in it [too].”
Schur didn’t say which characters Bell or Offerman would have played, but he did reveal that Harper would have stood in for Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player in the American major leagues.
Field of Dreams was ordered to series in August 2021, with Peacock’s official description promising to “reimagine the mixture of family, baseball, Iowa and magic that makes the movie so enduring and beloved.” The project remained in development for 10 months until officially striking out in June 2022.
The movie, which itself was adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, starred Costner (Yellowstone) as a farmer who builds a baseball field on his land after being encouraged by a mysterious voice. Watch a trailer below:
TVLine has reached out to Pratt and Peacock for comment. Would you have played ball with Schur’s star-studded Field of Dreams reimagining? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.
Best of TVLine
Sign up for Tvline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
