Ask Spencer Pratt how he imagined his life would pan out and he’ll tell you he wanted to be Tom Cruise famous. Red carpets and premieres famous. Fame beyond the villainous notoriety he attained as a reality star in the 2000s that played out in tabloids and on MTV’s “The Hills.”

But what about the celebrity that comes with pledging to fix one of the most complex, most populous municipalities in the country?

“It’s not a kind of fame that is fun,” said Pratt, 42. “I don’t know why a politician would want this. If they’re doing it for the attention, they’re crazy.”

Yet he’s become a national fixation as he competes in California’s open primary race to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. And despite Pratt’s self-proclaimed reluctance, he’s also become a political headache for the city’s political establishment. Recent polling shows Pratt in a tight three-way battle ahead of the June 2 primary, and last month alone his campaign reported $2.7 million in donations, or nearly 10 times the amount the incumbent, Karen Bass, raised in that same period.

On a recent morning, Pratt was walking down a Venice Beach alleyway, where an episode of Fox’s “Baywatch” reboot was taping. Wearing a suit and high-top Vans rounded out with a black baseball cap bearing his own name, he had been invited to the set by a longhaired location manager named Jennifer Smith, a 20-year veteran of the TV business.

“I’m not here to bash people, but the mayor hates entertainment,” Smith said to Pratt, alluding to the city’s slowed production, which has became a central issue in the race.