Nick Offerman had a steady acting career before he was cast as Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and that’s continued since the show ended. Prior to acting professionally, Offerman co-founded a Chicago-based theatre company. Shortly after, he became friends with Amy Poehler, his future Parks and Rec co-star. In the years leading up to his best role to date, Offerman worked on films such as Going All the Way, Treasure Island, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, and Sin City. As for TV, the actor appeared in many popular series like ER, Will & Grace, 24, George Lopez, Deadwood, and Gilmore Girls. Offerman’s longest-lasting role came at the start of 2009 when he won the role of Ron, but he hasn’t slowed down since the sitcom ended.
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While working as Ron on Parks and Rec between 2009 and 2015, Offerman continued appearing in other projects while also writing two semi-autobiographical books. The same year that the sitcom premiered, he played a role in The Men Who Stare at Goats. Offerman followed that up with notable roles in 21 Jump Street, The Kings of Summer, We’re the Millers, and his stand-up film, Nick Offerman: American Ham. The actor also worked on The Lego Movie, Date and Switch, and 22 Jump Street. Offerman continued appearing in the series, Childrens Hospital, at the same time that Parks and Rec aired. This was in addition to his voice work in notable shows like Bob’s Burgers, Axe Cop, Gravity Falls, and The Simpsons.
After Parks and Rec came to an end in 2015, Offerman appeared in the second season of Fargo. That same year, Offerman had roles in A Walk in the Woods, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and Hotel Transylvania 2. In the years that followed, the actor wrote a third book and worked on a number of films including Ice Age: Collision Course, Sing, The Founder, The Little Hours, and Infinity Baby. Offerman also featured in TV shows like You, Me and the Apocalypse, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Life in Pieces, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
More recently, Offerman reappeared on an episode of Will & Grace, the series that stars his wife, Megan Mullally. In 2018, the actor also voiced Commander Varvatos Vex in Netflix series, 3 Below, and debuted the reality competition series, Making It, which he co-hosts alongside his Parks and Recreation co-star, Amy Poehler. As for movies, Offerman was seen in Hearts Beat Loud, Bad Times at the El Royale, and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in recent months. Earlier this year, Offerman portrayed Thaddeus Dowling in Amazon’s Good Omens.
This October, the former star of Parks and Recreation was seen in the sci-fi drama, Lucy in the Sky. The film, directed by Noah Hawley, made its world premiere at TIFF in September. It also stars Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, Colman Domingo, Ellen Burstyn, and Tig Notaro. Next up, Offerman will star in the FX drama miniseries, Devs. The show, set for a spring 2020 premiere, will center on a computer engineer who investigates a company called Amaya after the disappearance of her boyfriend. Offerman portrays Forest, the man who runs Amaya. The cast of Devs also includes Sonoya Mizuno, Jin Ha, Zach Grenier, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Alison Pill.
