Last night (in the video below), Disney and the New York Daily News teamed up with Variety the Children’s Charity of New York and Children of Promise for a special screening of Guardians of the Galaxy for 250 kids. After the movie was over, Pratt surprised the kids with some words of inspiration about his own struggles growing up, and then he did the unthinkably cool and stayed until he’d taken a seflie with every single kid in the theater.

“I think you’re all very awesome… Take it from a kid who grew up having no money, struggling hard to get by. Just know that if you stick to your path and you believe in yourself and be courageous enough to be yourself, you can grow up and you can be your own Star-Lord.”

He went on to take questions from the audience, talking about stuntwork:

“It was pretty athletic. And I always played sports growing up. Anyone here play sports?… That was something I really loved when I was a kid. It was a lot like that.”

This proves once and for all the Chris Pratt is “the hero we deserved, and the one that we needed” right now with his portrayal of Star Lord in The Guardians of the Galaxy. Catch it in theaters everywhere this friday!