Nick Offerman

Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. He became widely known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015), for which he received the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy and was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Offerman has also appeared in the second season of the FX series '' Fargo'' (2015), for which he received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award, as well as the FX on Hulu series '' Pam & Tommy'' (2022) and the HBO series '' The Last of Us'' (2023), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He has acted in numerous independent films, including '' The Kings of Summer'' (2013), '' Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' (2015), '' The Founder'' (2016), and '' Hearts Beat Loud'' (2018).

Offerman's other work includes executive producing and starring in the film '' The House of Tomorrow'' (2017). He also played the President of the United States in the movie ''Civil War'' (2024), directed by Alex Garland. He voiced Agent Powers on '' Gravity Falls'' (2012–2016) and has provided voice acting work for ''The Lego Movie'' franchise (2014–2019), ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' (2015), '' Ice Age: Collision Course'' (2016), and the ''Sing'' film franchise (2016–present). He also hosted '' Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics'' (2020).

He began co-hosting the NBC reality competition series '' Making It'' (2018–2021) with ''Parks and Recreation'' co-star Amy Poehler; the duo received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.

Early life

Nicholas David Offerman was born in Joliet, Illinois, on June 26, 1970, the son of nurse Cathy () and social studies teacher Ric Offerman. His father taught at a high school in Minooka. Offerman was raised Catholic in nearby Minooka, where he attended Minooka Community High School. He received a BFA from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign in 1993. That year, he and a group of fellow students co-founded the Chicago theatre company Defiant Theatre. His parents were initially bewildered on his desire to become an actor, stating “It was bizarre to them…Nobody in our town had ever gone into the arts. So when I said: ‘I think I want to be an actor’, everybody kind of shook their head and said, ‘I don’t think you can get there from here.’”

Acting career

Offerman lived in Chicago in the mid-1990s, where he participated with theater companies such as Steppenwolf, Goodman, and Wisdom Bridge. At Steppenwolf, he also worked as a fight choreographer and master carpenter, the latter of which he received training from his father. During this time, Offerman became acquainted with Amy Poehler, who was heavily involved with the Chicago improv comedy scene.

In 2003, he married '' Will & Grace'' actress Megan Mullally. Offerman has also appeared on her talk show, '' The Megan Mullally Show''. At the same time, he began appearing on television as a plumber on ''Will & Grace'' on its fourth season's Thanksgiving episode, on ''The King of Queens'', in three episodes of '' 24'', and in an episode of ''The West Wing''. Prior to ''Parks and Recreation'', his most prominent role was as a factory worker and Benny Lopez's love interest Randy McGee on '' George Lopez''. He appeared twice on '' Gilmore Girls'', in 2003's "The Festival of Living Art" and 2005's "Always a Godmother, Never a God" and in the third-season episode of ''Monk'', "Mr. Monk and the Election" as a helper for the campaign of Natalie Teeger. In 2007, Offerman co-starred in the Comedy Central series '' American Body Shop''.

In 2009, ''The Office'' producers Michael Schur and Greg Daniels offered Offerman a series regular role in their NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' for the character Ron Swanson, the deadpan, government-hating, libertarian head of a city parks department and boss of Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope. ''Slate'' magazine declared Offerman "''Parks and Recreation'' secret weapon", and said he regularly stole scenes and "has a gift for understated physical comedy." The role weaves antagonism and political philosophy with humanity, while the intense libertarian philosophy the character lives out is often played off against the equally intense social liberalism and "do-gooder" mentality of Poehler's character. Offerman said that supporting parts such as that of ''Parks and Recreation'' are his ideal roles, and that he draws particular inspiration from Reverend Jim Ignatowski, the character played by Christopher Lloyd in the sitcom ''Taxi''.

Offerman has also been featured in the Adult Swim series ''Childrens Hospital'' with Rob Corddry and Rob Huebel. He is the voice of Axe Cop in the animated series of the same name that premiered on July 27, 2013. In the same year, Offerman portrayed Johnny Cool in the "Boston" episode of Derek Waters' '' Drunk History'' on Comedy Central. In 2014, he portrayed a lovesick German talk show host in The Decemberists' video, ''Make You Better''. The same year, he also appeared in a short film The Gunfighter directed by Eric Kissack. Offerman played the role of the narrator of the film where the actors of the film break the fourth wall and are able to hear the narrator.

Offerman can be seen on the big screen briefly as a construction worker in City of Angels (1998) and later in other films such as ''November'' (2004), '' Cursed'' (2005), '' Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous'' (2005), ''Sin City'' (2005), '' The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2009) and '' The Kings of Summer'' (2013). He also appeared in the 2006 film '' Wristcutters: A Love Story'' as a cop who attempts to arrest Shannyn Sossamon's character, Mikal. 2012 saw him in two film roles, as '' 21 Jump Streets Deputy Chief Hardy and in '' Casa de Mi Padre'' as DEA Agent Parker. He reprised his role as Deputy Chief Hardy in ''22 Jump Street'' two years later. Additionally, he starred in and produced an independent film, '' Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (2012), shot in Austin, Texas. He appeared in the 2013 comedy '' We're the Millers'', which starred Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston, and voiced MetalBeard in '' The Lego Movie''. Offerman conceived of and starred in punk band FIDLAR's 2013 video for their song "Cocaine". Offerman also played an alcoholic college guidance counselor in '' Believe Me''. Offerman played the recurring role Karl Weathers in the second season of '' Fargo ''(2015). Offerman voiced Grandpa Mike alongside wife Megan Mullally who voiced Grandma Linda in ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' (2015). He portrayed the first establisher of McDonald's, Dick McDonald, in '' The Founder'' (2016). Offerman also starred in alternative rock band They Might Be Giants' 2018 video for their song "The Greatest".

In 2023, Offerman appeared in the third episode of the HBO series '' The Last of Us'' as Bill. His performance, along with that of his co-star Murray Bartlett, was critically acclaimed, with some critics naming it a career-best performance, and Dais Johnston of '' Inverse'' labelled them as "Emmy-worthy". He went on to win Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2023 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. In 2025, Offerman starred with Jacob Tremblay and Dennis Quaid in the crime thriller ''Sovereign''.

Offerman was the Show Announcer for the 97th Academy Awards.

He appeared in the 2025 film '' Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning''.

Other ventures

Writing

Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications: the first, ''Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living'' was released in 2013; his second, ''Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers'', was released May 26, 2015; the third, ''Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop'', was released October 18, 2016. His fourth book, ''Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside'', was released October 12, 2021. He has also narrated all four as audiobooks.

Comedy tours

In 2017, Offerman launched his ''Full Bush Tour'' which consisted of 28 shows across the U.S. and Canada. His ''All Rise Tour'' kicked off on July 20, 2019, in Thackerville and continued through the rest of 2019, hitting major cities: Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, and Atlanta.

Theatre

In 2014, Offerman and Mullally starred alongside each other in the off-Broadway one-act play, ''Annapurna''. The two play an estranged couple that reunites one last time. In 2015, Offerman starred as Ignatius J. Reilly in a theatrical adaptation of '' A Confederacy of Dunces'' with the Huntington Theatre Company.

Woodworking

Offerman runs a Offerman Woodshop with a crew of six craftsmen and women in Los Angeles since 2001. He has said that acting in TV and movies is "cramping my style at the woodshop" and "if I just had a life of woodworking and live theater, that'd be perfectly fine with me". He educated himself about woodworking with books and periodicals and has written several books about woodworking. He emphasizes that literature about the craft tends to be too somber and sober and actually it's important to know going in that you're supposed to make mistakes.

Personal life

Offerman married actress Megan Mullally on September 20, 2003. They met while co-starring in the play ''The Berlin Circle'' with the Evidence Room Theatre Company in the summer of 2000. They have worked together on series and films such as '' Will & Grace'', '' Parks and Recreation'', '' The Kings of Summer'', '' Smashed'', ''Hotel Transylvania 2'', ''Bob's Burgers'', ''You, Me and the Apocalypse'', '' The Great North'' and ''The Umbrella Academy''. They began a live comedy tour in 2016, the theme of which was their sex life. In 2019, they started ''In Bed with Nick and Megan'', a podcast discussing their personal lives while interviewing guests.

Politics

When asked whether he is a libertarian like his character Ron Swanson, Offerman said in 2017, "While I admire the philosophy of the libertarian mindset, I think it's proven to be ineffectual in actual governance. So no, I'm not. I'm a free-thinking American." He described Donald Trump as racist and sexist during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but also mocked Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton for her private email controversy. Upon voting in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he tweeted a photo of himself with an "I Voted" sticker, adding the caption " #VoteWarren" in reference to Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. That year, he also tweeted his support for Democratic candidate Charles Booker in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary in Kentucky.

Although some political commentators likened Offerman's depiction of the US President in ''Civil War'' to Donald Trump, Offerman denied that his performance was based on Trump and argued that politics did not serve as an influence on the film. In an April 2024 GQ interview, Offerman described himself as "progressive", but also "conservative in many ways". In the same interview, he said he believes the "semantics" of the political spectrum "have lost their meaning." On August 27, 2024, he endorsed Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election with a song titled "Proud to Be a Kamala Man".

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Theme park attractions

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Offerman, Nick
1970 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American carpenters
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American woodworkers
Catholics from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Male actors from Joliet, Illinois
People from Minooka, Illinois
Primetime Emmy Award winners
University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni
Writers from Joliet, Illinois