Nick Offerman blew us all away in the third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. His performance as Bill instantly put him in contention for an Emmy, proving that the Parks and Recreation actor has range far beyond his usual comedic roles. However, were it not for his wife, Megan Mullally, he may have passed on the part.
Craig Mazin already knew Offerman through their sons’ baseball teams and was pursuing him for the role, but apparently squeezing the shoot into his busy workload was difficult. Then Mullally stepped in.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to mark the season three premiere of Party Down, she explained what went down in the Offerman household:
“His schedule was really packed, and he loved the script, but he was just so busy. And I was like, ‘Well let me read it,’ and I was like, ‘You’re doing it.’ So then he did.”
So it looks like we have her to thank for making Bill happen. As she briefly stepped in to act as her husband’s unofficial agent, she jokingly demanded a cut of the profits:
“I mean hello, where’s my 10 percent?
Offerman won’t be returning to The Last of Us for obvious reasons, though we should expect a lot more major casting news from the show going forward. A second season has been greenlit and will cover the events of 2020 PlayStation 4 game The Last of Us Part II, which introduces a large number of new characters (one of whom may have been glimpsed in the most recent episode).
Here’s hoping Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann continue hitting home runs when it comes to finding actors, but whether they can nail it as hard as Nick Offerman as Bill remains to be seen.
The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO.
