Even Nick Offerman is impressed by Ron Swanson’s amusing one-liners.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Offerman, 54, dished on his favorite moment featuring his beloved Parks and Recreation character. “One that always springs to mind [is] food-related,” the actor shared while discussing his new Pringles campaign. “We were at a bowling alley and there was a bulletin board with plastic letters [next to] a concession window, and it said something like, ‘Hot Dog, 85 cents, Hamburger, $1.15’ and I say, ‘This is my favorite restaurant in Pawnee.’”
“Rashida [Jones, who played Ann Perkins] says, ‘Aren’t you afraid to eat there?’ and I say, ‘When I eat, it’s the food that is scared,’” Offerman told Us, noting that a “great” Parks and Recreation writer Dan Gore came up with the line. “I remember the imitable smell of a bowling alley, and the red and blue leather shoes.”
The series’ fourth season episode, titled “Bowling for Votes,” features Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) recruiting her staff to join her for a fun night of bowling after she’s told by a local resident that he wouldn’t vote for her to be on the city council because she doesn’t look like someone he could go bowling with.
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The NBC sitcom — which premiered in 2009 and aired for seven seasons — starred Offerman, Jones, Poehler, Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford), Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt), Chris Pratt (Andy Dwyer), Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate), Rob Lowe (Chris Traeger), Retta (Donna Meagle) and Jim O’Heir (Jerry Gergich) as the team overseeing the fictional Pawnee’s Parks and Recreation department.
Despite the series ending in 2015, Offerman’s character has gained a cult following. Ron Swanson has become revered for his deadpan personality, love of meat and, of course, his iconic mustache, which has become the Last of Us actor’s signature look.
“Over the years, I’ve been really lucky to get certain gigs simply because they like my mustache,” he told Us. “I could be any jackass where they’re like, ‘Can you come to this job and bring that mustache? because that’s all we really care about.”
The facial hair came in handy for Pringles’ Super Bowl campaign, “Call of the Mustaches,” which features Offerman, Adam Brody, James Harden and Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid starring in a hilarious commercial.
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“There’s a bit of a snacking emergency, and Mr. Pringles — who insists that we call him Mr. P around the set — sort of sends out a clarion call and some of the great mustaches of the world come to answer the snacking emergency,” Offerman explained, joking that fellow ‘stache enthusiast Sam Elliot held a bootcamp for those featured in the Big Game spot.
“I never would’ve imagined that my mustache could do some of the things they got it to do,” Offerman added. “To be counted in this sort of Mount Rushmore of snacking mustaches makes me incredibly grateful.”
