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Casting

[edit]
See also: List of Parks and Recreation characters


Daniels and Schur brought in Allison Jones as the casting director for the series.[1] The first actor cast was Aziz Ansari, who joined the show in June 2008 before Daniels and Schur had settled on a concept.[2] Rashida Jones as another early addition to the cast. Jones had worked with Daniels and Schur when she played Karen Filipelli on season 3 of The Office. After her character was written off The Office, she signed a deal with Universal Media Studios.[3] The show began to take shape once Amy Poehler agreed to join the cast.[4] Schur had been a fan of Poehler's work since seeing her perform at Upright Citizens Brigade in the 1990s. The two became friends when they worked together on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live where Shcur's tenure as writer overlapped with Poehler's nearly seven years as a cast member.[5][6] Schur believed Poehler could carry the new show and she became the lead, Leslie Knope.[7]

A number of actors were brought in to play a potential love interest for Jones' character, Ann Perkins, including Nick Offerman and Adam Scott.[8] Nick Offerman was considered "not handsome enough."


Nick Offerman had pervious auditioned for a guest role on The Office, where he impressed Schur so much that Schur held on to a note with Offerman's name.[9] Offerman came in early in the audition process for Parks. He read for the role of "Josh" and did a chemistry test with Rashida Jones. Offerman didn't get that part which ultimately became Mark Brendanawicz.[citation needed]

The role of Andy Dwyer was originally meant to last only for the first few episodes.[10] Schur was familiar with Pratt's work from Pratt's time on The O.C. where Schur's wife, J.J. Philbin, was a writer.[11] The Parks and Rec producers liked Pratt so much that, almost immediately after casting him, they promoted him from guest star to regular cast member starting with season two.[10][11]

The season 1 cast was filled out with two actors Daniels and Schur liked, even though they didn't have fully formed characters yet. Jim O Heir originally auditioned for the role of Ron Swanson.[12] Daniels and Schur liked O Heir and brought him on as Jerry Gergich. The character did have much shape until the second season.

Retta, who was part of the show since season 1, was officially promoted to a series regular in season 3.[13]

At the end of Season 2, Rob Lowe and Adam Scott landed recurring roles as Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt, respectively. The pair were playing characters brought in to help the functional city of Pawnee as it faced budget problems. Lowe initially signed on for two epsiodes in season 2 and six episodes at the start of season 3.[14] Wyatt was intended as a love interest for Leslie Knope.[15] Scott had been a cast member on the Starz show Party Down, however, Scott was not under contact with Party Down as the cast did not have multi-season contracts and the show's future was already uncertain due to low ratings. Although Scott committed to returning to Party Down for three episodes if it was renewed, the show was cancelled.

The principal cast starting in season one included:[16]

  • Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat with a strong love of her home town of Pawnee, who has not let politics dampen her sense of optimism (which apparently has lasted six years in her job); her ultimate goal is to become President of the United States.[17] It was only after she was cast that Daniels and Schur established the series' general concept and the script for the pilot was written.[4]
  • Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, a nurse and political outsider who gradually becomes more involved in Pawnee government through her friendship with Leslie.[18] Jones was among the first to be cast by Daniels and Schur in 2008, when the series was still being considered as a spin-off to The Office, where Jones had played Jim Halpert's girlfriend Karen Filippelli, who formerly worked at the Stamford Branch but was soon transferred to the Scranton Branch in the third season.[4][3] She and Lowe departed in the middle of season 6, and she returned for a guest appearance later in the season.[19] Jones and Lowe returned in the series finale, along with the COVID-19 pandemic special.[20]
  • Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz, a city planner who entered the field with a sense of optimism, but has since become jaded and disillusioned.[21] Schneider said early in the series he was insecure in the role because he was still trying to figure out the character's motivations.[22] Schneider left the cast after the second season and the character is not referenced at any point during the remainder of the series' run.[23][24]
  • Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford, Leslie's sarcastic and underachieving subordinate,[25] who eventually begins to consider leaving his city hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests.[26] As with Jones, Daniels and Schur had intended to cast Ansari from the earliest stages of the development of Parks and Recreation.[4][3]
  • Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson, the parks and recreation director who, as a libertarian, believes in as small a government as possible. As such, Ron strives to make his department as ineffective as possible, and favors hiring employees who do not care about their jobs or are poor at them.[25] Nevertheless, Ron consistently demonstrates that he secretly cares deeply about his fellow co-workers.[27]
  • Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, a cynical and uninterested parks department intern who speaks in a monotonic voice. She eventually becomes the perfect assistant for Ron.[28] The role was written specifically for Plaza; after meeting her, casting director Allison Jones told Schur, "I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show."[29]
  • Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, a goofy and dim-witted but lovable slacker and Ann's ex-boyfriend. Pratt was originally intended to be a guest star and the character Andy was initially meant to appear only in the first season, but the producers liked Pratt so much that, almost immediately after casting him, they decided to make him a regular cast member starting with season two.[10]
Rob Lowe (left) and Adam Scott (right) joined the cast of Parks and Recreation during the last two episodes of the second season.

Several cast members were introduced or developed, and added to the opening credits over the course of the series:

  • Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, a brilliant but socially awkward government official trying to redeem his past as a failed mayor in his youth.[30] Scott left his starring role on the Starz comedy series Party Down to join the series,[31] starting with the penultimate second-season episode, "The Master Plan."[31]
  • Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger, an excessively positive and extremely health-conscious government official.[32] Lowe was introduced with Scott and was originally expected to depart after a string of guest appearances,[33][34] but later signed a multi-year contract to become a regular cast member.[34][35][36] He and Rashida Jones departed from the series in the season 6 episode, "Ann and Chris",[19] returning in the series finale and the 2020 special.[20]
  • Jim O'Heir and Retta made regular appearances respectively as Garry "Jerry" Gergich and Donna Meagle since the first season, but their personalities did not become developed until the second season. Schur said the Parks and Recreation staff liked the actors so decided to include them in the show and "figured we'd work it out later". A throwaway joke at Jerry's expense in the episode "Practice Date" led him to be established as the inept co-worker the rest of the department callously picks on.[29] Donna was developed as a sassy hedonist whose mysterious life is occasionally hinted at. It was not until the third season they became considered regular cast members,[37] and were added to the credits during the sixth season.[38]
  • Billy Eichner as Craig Middlebrooks, an overly passionate employee of the Pawnee local government, began working for Pawnee when Eagleton merged with Pawnee. He was recurring during season 6 and began being billed as a member of the regular cast in the fourth episode of season 7.

Numerous actors have made recurring guest appearances throughout the series, including Pamela Reed as Leslie's mother and fellow politician Marlene Griggs-Knope,[39] Ben Schwartz as Tom's fast-talking friend Jean-Ralphio and Jenny Slate as his twin sister Mona-Lisa,[40] Jama Williamson as Tom's ex-wife Wendy,[41] Mo Collins as morning talk show host Joan Callamezzo, Jay Jackson as television broadcaster Perd Hapley,[42] Alison Becker as newspaper reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep,[43] Darlene Hunt as conservative activist Marcia Langman,[44] and Andy Forrest as Andy's frequent shoeshine customer Kyle.[45] Megan Mullally, the real-life wife of Nick Offerman, portrayed Ron's ex-wife Tammy in the second season's "Ron and Tammy", a role she reprised in later episodes.[46][47] Lucy Lawless and Jon Glaser have recurring roles in the fifth and sixth seasons as Ron's love interest and later wife Diane Lewis, and as Leslie's arch enemy on the city council Jeremy Jamm, respectively.

Mullally's performance was well received, which made the Parks and Recreation producers feel more comfortable about using celebrity guest actors in later episodes.[48][49] Other such celebrity guests included: Blake Anderson,[50] Fred Armisen,[51] Will Arnett,[52] Kristen Bell,[53] H. Jon Benjamin,[54] Matt Besser,[55] Chris Bosh,[56] Louis C.K.,[57] The Decemberists,[50] Sam Elliott,[58] Will Forte,[34] Ginuwine,[50] Michael Gross,[59] Jon Hamm,[50] Nick Kroll,[55] John Larroquette,[60] Andrew Luck,[61] Letters to Cleo,[50] Natalie Morales,[62] Parker Posey,[63] Andy Samberg,[48] Roy Hibbert,[64] Detlef Schrempf,[65] Justin Theroux,[60] Wilco,[50] Henry Winkler,[66] Peter Serafinowicz and Yo La Tengo.[67] Paul Rudd appeared in several season four episodes as Bobby Newport, Leslie's opponent in the City Council race, and returned for two episodes in the final season.[68]

The series has had cameos by several real-life political figures, including then-Vice President Joe Biden,[69] First Lady Michelle Obama,[70] former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich,[71] former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,[72] as well as Senators John McCain,[73] Barbara Boxer,[73] Olympia Snowe,[73] Cory Booker and Orrin Hatch.

Characters

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References

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  1. ^ Rodrick, Stephen (March 30, 2015). "Allison Jones, Nerd Hunter". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Schneider, Michael; Schneider, Michael (June 13, 2008). "Aziz Ansari hired for 'Office' spinoff". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c Sepinwall, Alan (July 21, 2008). "Sepinwall on TV: Leno undercover, 'Office' non-spin-off". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d Itzkoff, Dave (March 26, 2009). "It's Not 'The Office.' The Boss Is a Woman". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
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  9. ^ Robinson, Melia (February 4, 2015). "How a Post-it Note helped the star of 'Parks and Recreation' land his role as Ron Swanson". Dover Post. Retrieved March 8, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  12. ^ Lehman, Daniel (March 8, 2012). "John Lutz and Jim O'Heir Play the Punching Bags on NBC Sitcoms". Backstage. Retrieved January 31, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Feuer, Ryan (July 17, 2015). "Comedian Retta talks Jersey roots and future plans". nj. Retrieved January 31, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Martin, Denise (March 12, 2010). "'Parks and Recreation': Mike Schur tells us why Paul Schneider is leaving the show, plus more details on Adam Scott and Rob Lowe". LA Times Blogs - Show Tracker. Retrieved March 9, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  19. ^ a b "'Parks and Recreation' Cast Bids Farewell to Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe and We Cry With Them". E! Online. January 31, 2014. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  20. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference DeadlineSpecialApril2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference SchurRockShow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Schneider, Paul (2009). Parks and Recreation: Season One: "The Reporter" (Audio commentary) (DVD). Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
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