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Nick Offerman knows he has a type. Since his mid-career breakthrough as Ron Swanson Parks and recreationthe Illinois native has cornered the market on a particular brand of easy-going, emotionally distant but brusquely likable steak eater. Offerman has happily leaned into that character himself, but as often happens with feature roles, any genre tends to belie greater depth — and that’s certainly the case with Offerman, who given his origins in Chicago theater and his body of work in independent films, has long been there for more than meets the eye.
The last of us Things have changed. In an episode of the harrowing 2023 HBO drama, Offerman beautifully charted a decades-long standalone romance opposite Murray Bartlett, and went on to win a guest Emmy for his haunting role. The industry is starting to see it differently. His peers and colleagues will praise his work there. This dynamic began to change the landscape of the shows coming his way — and arguably peaked Margo has financial problemswill premiere April 15 on AppleTV+.
The new drama from Emmy Award-winner David E. Kelley stars Academy Award nominees Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning as a single mother and a dysfunctional daughter. Their relationship enters a dramatic new phase when the latter – also single, barely aspiring to become a writer – becomes pregnant after sleeping with her married professor and decides to keep the baby. Tensions rose when Fanning’s Margo chose to make ends meet by growing a following on OnlyFans.
Offerman enters the picture as Margo’s estranged father, Jinx, a retired professional wrestler and recovering addict. His experience as a brilliant performer, coupled with his absence from most of Margo’s life, makes him an unlikely mentor to his daughter when she needs him most. This relationship allows Offerman to deliver one of his most surprising and tender performances to date — one that breaks free from the archetype he’s spent years effortlessly playing with, while revealing all that messy, gloriously human stuff that has long lurked underneath.
In his first interview about the show, Offerman himself admitted that it felt like new territory. And with him being almost in the world, it scares him a little.
I’ve watched it all Margo has financial problems. It was a nice surprise to see you in this role.
It’s the most emotionally enjoyable role I’ve ever played, so I’m very excited and also afraid that the world will see me with feelings.
Tell more about that. What is fear?
Well, I’ve had the good fortune to develop some of the most reliable tools in my toolbox over the course of my career. It was interesting at 54 years old to say, “Oh, I’ve never been chosen as someone who we care about, across a series, about his emotional journey.” It’s great as an artist to confront things that still make me terrified. This seemed like a very daunting challenge. The professional and artistic encounter with Elle and Michelle made me feel like a new student, and I still had a lot to live for.
Why do you think they thought of you for that?
People always ask me questions about Ron Swanson and his influence on popular culture, and I enjoy the answer I come up with: The clown behind the makeup doesn’t know why babies cry. I was in Budapest shooting Death by lightning For Netflix, which was also an incredibly fun and exciting business, when this show came along. It had all the sides: David E. Kelley show, hot novel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman. Shoots in Los Angeles. Former professional wrestler, everything – a really delicious role.
The pitch came with this wonderful banquet of dishes. I thought to myself, “What am I missing here? What man wouldn’t kill for this role? This is the best part for a man on television.” I suppose Mother Nature gave me this body that I could become a former professional wrestler and a masked man. Thank God my work is in The last of usIn particular, I showed that I had enough range to cover the dramatic side of the character. And because I’m an insecure person who owns a mirror, I was on set and people were saying nice things to me about my work that day and I was like, “Okay, thank you. I’m glad I didn’t mess it up.”
I won an Emmy The last of uswhich followed the kind of emotional arc you were referring to earlier — just over the course of one episode. Was this the beginning of this new chapter?
As a student of life and a student of this type of art, this makes me extremely grateful that I made the right decisions that led me to where[[The last of us Creator]Craig Mazin thought I was the right person to come up with this script. When I watch episodes MargoI’m terrified. I have a sour stomach, I have terrible butterflies. It’s interesting. I can’t be objective at all. I can certainly enjoy everything about it, even though the fallible human in me watches it and says, “I think this is great, but could I be wrong? Is it just because He wants To be great? How is this pace? How’s that tone?” That means a lot to me; I’ve spent a lot of my time making a beautiful sculpture and it’s going to be unveiled, and I’m terrified, lying awake all night thinking, “Are they going to get it or am I going to die a disappointed artist?” That’s why I feel like there’s a general approval for my work in it. The last of us When I first met Michelle Pfeiffer and we started shooting scenes. She said some incredibly nice things to me about my work on it, and I still have to take a deep breath and say, “Okay, Michelle Pfeiffer honestly gave me those compliments.”
When it comes to creating this statue, as you call it, you have a lot of physical things to work with in playing a former wrestler and recovering addict. What goes into embodying that for you?
If I’m not grilling meat in the scene, I might need to do some homework. Even now as we speak, I’m getting ready to work on a film with Alex Garland where I have some extensive voice work and physical work to do. When I got this job, I was immediately introduced to this amazing coach in town named Grant L. Roberts, who transforms people. We came up with a plan and I said, “Okay, I’m going to work out. I’m going to gain as much muscle as I can, but I’m not going to go to Marvel Superhero School because he’s a former wrestler with addiction issues, so I don’t want to look like John Cena or something.”
I grew up an athlete. My father was a great coach and athlete. So I understand that if I wanted to start on the basketball team next year, I would start dribbling today. And my wife [Megan Mullally] He is a miracle. She was always the kid with her talent, beauty, and singing voice. She was always the kid who was like, ‘Okay, let’s do a show.’ I know I won’t show up and everyone will say, “Oh my God, we’ll throw roses at you.” I use my work ethic and do my best to make a physical transformation.
Both the book and the show take a very subtle, non-sensationalist approach to OnlyFans and sex work. What are you made of matter?
This is probably my favorite kind of thematic issue in the book, as it addresses the age-old feminist question of how we consume, and speaking generally, sex work in our society versus how we view and judge it socially. I’m a huge fan of Ruffy Thorpe, have read all of her novels now, and love the questions she asks. This allergy is treated very well. My character has unexpected reactions, superficial reactions, and then he’s given the opportunity to look at the entire field and say, wait a minute, “Am I John Lithgow in Loose Do we look at this issue through societal eyes or through the doctrine or tradition of family values? I have an only daughter who is having trouble, and I have found a way to support her child and herself in a way that I can now fail and doesn’t hurt anyone. I love this shift that allows my character as an ambitious alpha male to say, “I will side with love and family and not with social judgment.”
This is also a different kind of role for Elle, she’s so vulnerable, and you’re so vulnerable You guys have great chemistry. Have you connected by stepping into uncharted territory, in your own ways, together?
When the offer for the show came, that was the side of the meal: playing Elle’s father and doing a series with Elle – who had shown The GreatMegan and I have been declared the greatest young actress in the world. We just hold her in such high regard. So it was great to work with her because she is very professional. She is very young and accomplished. I’m not a novice, but a lot of times I really appreciated the kind of battle toughness it had in attacking a lot of this material where scenes are difficult for internal or external reasons, or a combination thereof.
We’ve just met Nick and Ellie, and our characters have a lot of estrangement and a lot of weirdness between them. But here we have the story of these eight episodes: let’s link our arms and let’s get this fucker done.
You’ve highlighted the breadth of the show a few times – to be able to tell this larger, open-ended story. But you’ve done it before, and obviously you’re back at it Parks and Recommendation.
I feel like I’ve learned to imagine the full narrative of the world, and it’s easy to learn Parks and recreation: They looked at me and took my traits and characteristics and created something that was so much more wonderful and effective and fun than if NBC had come to me and said, on carte blanche, “Nick, write your dream role,” where I would have come up with something more adolescent and stupid. you know what i mean? This is the part of me that I was just going to create. The show could have been called “My Id”.
I get my shovel and say, “Show me where to dig and tell me what you want. Do you want a hole, do you want a ditch? I do it all. I can shovel like a bitch.” I just like to be there with my shovel and be valuable to them, and have them say, “We heard about your shovel, and they were right. You dug good.” So I hope to be back to drill more holes next year Margo.
I went straight to Margo from Death by lightning – which was a completely different physical task.
after Death by lightningI was supposed to do a role in an independent film where I play a father who dies of cancer. This was a really great script, and I was committed to it. I was producing it. We agreed on Death by lightning That I was wearing a fat suit – Chester Arthur was a lot more ham than I was – and as we were getting ready to start in Budapest, the cancer movie collapsed and ended. I no longer had that requirement to stay thin, so I happily gained about 20 pounds. There is an Austrian dish called crispy pork knuckle which was a popular meal in bars in Budapest. I’m glad that, among the successes of this show, I actually felt like I was successfully fat. Immediately at the end Death by lightningand then I said, “Okay, now we have to get that weight off and turn it into some thick shoulders[for[forMargo].”
It was fun to see you in that environment, to do the complete turnaround.
[Creator] Mike Makowski once again generously said that he only thought of me when he started writing it. It’s funny because a lot of actors, I think, would have a hard time finding a compliment in that – this guy is a real tolerant piece of shit. (Laughs) “I can’t think of anyone but you” is a lovely left-handed compliment. But I have a healthy enough self-image that I can appreciate the difference between my real personality and what I can portray.
And I saw that you were going to do a musical with Megan next. You guys work together quite often, but this feels like a whole other exciting level.
I was glad I had a four-month period to try to get some of this work done. And now Megan and I are about to do this musical together, which she’s been working on for many years. He’s one of the creators of Urinetown and Spelling Bee, both the book and the music, and I’m very happy with this show. I’m so glad it’s being produced. I have a fun part too, but it’s largely Meghan’s show. It’s bulletproof.
You’re playing Eugene O’Neill, right?
Yes. I appreciate that since I appear on TV, I add a certain value to selling tickets in the theater, and I can understand it superficially. But on stage, I also did some presentation workshops. I got involved and started working with these professionals on Broadway. Once again, my skill set allows me to ride in this clown car with a group of greats. Their talents are so amazing to me, and I can appreciate that, “Okay, no one hired me to do the Tony Award-winning song,” but I hope I’ll grab my shovel to use in this campaign while they’re dancing around. As long as I keep showing up and they keep giving me a sandwich, I’ll keep taking care of my business.
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Margo has financial problems Premieres April 15 on AppleTV+.
