Nick Offerman

I want to play a quick scene from the show, one that shows Ron being Ron.

Here's Ron turning a wall sconce into wedding rings for the characters Leslie and Ben.

That's a scene from Parks and Recreation.

It's a beloved show.

You play a beloved character.

Can you tell the story of how you got the part of Ron?

I was getting pretty bummed.

I was in my late 30s, and I had had a few instances where writers took a shine to me, TV writers, and they would write me a part in their pilot, and it never worked out.

And then finally...

We were watching Rainn Wilson on The Office, who's a dear old friend, and I said, you know, if I'm ever going to get a shot, I think it's going to be something like Dwight on The Office.

And sure enough, Dwight's cousin, Mose Schrute, played by Mike Schur, who created Parks and Rec with Greg Daniels of The Office, they had me in.

They looked at me for another role.

That role never happened, but they took a shine to me, thankfully.

and wanted to put me in as Amy's boss, this guy Ron Swanson, who, thank goodness, they really wanted a slow talker.

And still, NBC, of course, in their corporate wisdom, said, I don't think so.

Like, he's weird.

We've never been able to wrap our heads around Nick Offerman.

Let's keep looking.

So for five months since they first read me as Ron,

They read every guy under the moon.