Nick Offerman is opening up about one of his most iconic roles.
The 55-year-old actor spoke out in an interview with Variety about Parks & Recreation character Ron Swanson, working with Elle Fanning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, toxic masculinity, and much more.
Find out what Nick Offerman had to say…
On collaborating with Elle Fanning in Margo’s Got Money Troubles:
“We were so besotted with her work. She’s one of those superstars that I see and think, ‘Boy, what would it take to get to work with her some day?’ The proposition of getting to have an emotional relationship with her onscreen is the best Christmas present that has ever come my way.”
On moving away from his role as Ron Swanson:
“I said, ‘The one thing I don’t want to do is more Ron Swanson. I I think that I’ve done that, and happily so. All these offers came in of, ‘OK, this isn’t Ron Swanson, but he’s an ex-Marine and he’s great at grilling.’ I was like, ‘That’s Ron Swanson.’ So I told my agents, ‘Let’s create some daylight and I’m just going to work at my wood shop for a while.’”
On the stereotypes surrounding Ron Swanson:
“My masculinity, such as it is, began to get a lot of attention along with everything else about Ron Swanson and Parks and Recreation. It took me by surprise to be part of the conversation, but because a lot of wrongheaded viewers identified incorrectly with Ron. Ron is a smart and avid hunter, so they assumed he must be a misogynist. They made a lot of incorrect assumptions, hoping to find an avatar for their ideologies. So that drew me in; I thought, ‘Well, no, if you pay attention, you’ll see that Ron is a feminist, or ‘Ron is a true libertarian. He’s the best man at a gay wedding.’ But it dovetailed with this weird new obsession with masculinity, a toxic masculinity that I guess comes hand-in-hand with the evolution of empathy.”
On advocating for a way of life that treats people with respect:
“I’m grateful to take part in the conversation. I feel like I’m on a pretty vast team of clear thinkers that are just saying wild ideas like, ‘Don’t vote for a rapist.’ The things that I espouse are clear and common sense and don’t have any agenda other than wanting people to have health care versus not, wanting to erase the wealth disparity versus not.”
On the Secretary of Defense changing his title to Secretary of War:
“Masculinity-wise, it is the most humiliating thing you could possibly do. It’s so embarrassing that the guy with a flag behind him is saying, ‘We lead by bombing people. We negotiate with devastation.’ The fact that my tax dollars are even turning the lights on so that we can broadcast that, to me, that’s who should be embarrassed. That’s who should be thinking about their choices. I espouse hugging. I negotiate with hugging. I understand that not everybody is into that, but that’s definitely what I open with — and hopefully it won’t come to punching.”
For more from Nick Offerman, head to Variety.com.
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