Nick Offerman

Nicholas David Offerman was born in Joliet, Illinois, on June 26, 1970, the son of nurse Cathy (née Roberts) 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.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. 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 regular supporting role in their NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation: that of 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's 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 Street's 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. Also in 2023, Offerman has also teamed up with Jacob Tremblay, Dennis Quaid for a Crime Thriller "Sovereign".