Offerman tells Fresh Air how he got the role of Ron Swanson on Parks & Rec.
I had auditioned a handful of times for roles on The Office. And Greg Daniels, who created the American Office and Mike Schur [who was] sort of his star writer, they created Park and Recreation. And I guess Mike Schur had taken a shine to me at this one specific Office audition unbeknownst to me, and he wrote my name on a Post-it and put it on his computer monitor and, like, three years later when Parks and Rec was starting up he took that Post-it and said, “Oh yeah, I want to get this guy on my show.”
And so they tried to put me in one role and it didn’t work out. Coincidentally it was supposed to end up a love interest for Rashida [Jones], a notion which at the time NBC scoffed at. … I was at the sporting goods store and they called me to say. “It’s over.” … [But] by the time I came out to the parking lot, they called again and said, “OK, Greg and Mike Shur really want you on the show, so they’re going to put you in this role of Amy [Poehler’s] boss, supposed to be an older guy, but they’re standing by it, they’re being very stubborn.” And I stood there and felt tears welling up and said, “That sounds fine, thank you.”
