NBC Photo by Mitchell Haaseth
There have
been some classic TV characters over the years, who emerged from the background
to steal the show. Fonzie on Happy Days.
The Reverend Jim Ignatowski on Taxi. And now Ron Swanson on Parksand Recreation. The unflappable parks department director is a Libertarian who
loves meat and a not-so-good woman named Tammy. In a recent conference call
interview the man behind the moustache, Nick Offerman, shared some thoughts on
his breakout character.
Parks and
Rec’s Tom Haverford might think he’s got game, but it’s the smoulderingly
silent Ron Swanson who seems to get all the girls. Among his many loves are his
ex-wives, Tammy One and Tammy Two. Viewers have met Swanson’s combative second
missus, played by his real life wife Meagan Mullally (of Will and Grace fame). This season fans will be introduced to Tammy
One, who will be portrayed by Patricia Clarkson.
Nick
reflected on what draws beautiful woman to Swanson, “I usually assume it’s my
musk that attracts people. I keep the dander to a minimum and I keep it clean,
but I use just a little bit of hibiscus oil behind each shoulder. That would be
my guess.”
Whatever
his appeal, he’s just tickled to be sharing the small screen with the two
beautiful and talented actresses. He gushed, “I am about as giggly as a
schoolgirl to have landed in a position where I’m portraying a man who has made
love to both Megan Mullally and Patricia Clarkson. That is a consummation
devoutly to be wished.”
Of course
Ron Swanson is passionate about many things. He loves women, true, but he also
has soft spots for woodworking and the saxaphone. Both are concepts that
Offerman holds dear to his heart in real life. When asked if he could pick
another off-screen interest to incorporate into the show, he replied, “I have a
penchant for the ballet, and I’ve been pitching the fellows for the whole time
we’ve been in production for a Ron Swan Lake episode. And I haven’t heard of
anything coming down the pike just yet, so...”
He’s also a big fan of meat, just like his character. Nick
explained how it was key factor when he went into training for a nude photo
shoot he and Mullally did for New York Magazine last year. “That was my wife’s idea. She thinks
I’m beautiful. And to prepare for that photo shoot, we took a three-week tour
of Europe where I sampled the sausages of five nations, ending with a 16-inch
long bratwurst in the Town Square of Prague, a mere 18 hours before that photo
shoot. And if you look closely in the picture, you can make out a bulge that I
think is representative of that particular pork sausage.”
He also
chose not to shave off any of his manly chest hair for the shot. He explained,
“I can legitimately say that I insist on no shaving or waxing. I think that the
emasculation of the modern man in popular culture is something that has
weakened our society considerably. I don’t know why a heroic male these days
has to have a hairless torso.”
He
continued, “When I grew up admiring Joe Don Baker swinging a baseball bat and walking
tall, he was a hairy son of a bitch. And to me, that’s a hero. I’m a big fan of
your Brad Pitts and your Jude Laws, but I’d like to see a little hair on their
chests if they’re going to be beating somebody up.”
The very hairy Offerman seems ready to do a bit of butt kicking of his own. He confessed, “I did put in a request that my catchphrase would be, ‘It’s clobbering time’ and I was told that that had already been taken.”
That aside,
Nick couldn’t be happier with his gig on Parks
and Rec. He acknowledged, “This is such a plum role… I love when I get to
eat meat. I love when I get to dangerously make out with my wife to the point
of destroying buildings and furniture. And I love everything about it. Every
time I’m handed a new script, I feel like a largemouth bass at a nightcrawler
convention. You can quote me on that.”
Catch Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson when Parks and Recreation returns for season four on Thursday, September 22 at 8:30 p.m. EST/7:30 p.m. Central on NBC.
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You can't REALLY compare him to Fonzie and Reverend Jim!!!
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