‘It was slow, and quiet, and satanic’: Aubrey Plaza on working with Nick Offerman on ‘Parks and Rec’

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It’s hard to name a more iconic sitcom duo than Nick Offerman‘s Ron Swanson and Aubrey Plaza‘s April Ludgate. The two professional haters forged a wholesome mentor-mentee relationship throughout the seven seasons of Parks and Recreation, eventually becoming two of the most memorable and beloved characters and friendships on the show.

Looking back on the scowl-filled dynamic for Vanity Fair‘s career retrospective, Aubrey Plaza revealed that a lot of it came together organically, as did most of the show. “Like April and Andy, that was an organic thing. That was an idea that we came up with,” Plaza shared, adding that the same happened with April and Ron. “You find little things and then they would build off of it, and then here they are,” she continued.

The friendship would not have resonated as well as it did on screen if Plaza and Offerman weren’t similarly close in real life. The actress, who has recently shone as the cryptic Harper of HBO’s The White Lotus, called her Parks scene partner “one of the funniest actors I’ve ever worked with,” describing their rhythm together as “slow, quiet, and Satanic.” Sounds like the most April/Nick thing we’ve ever heard.

“They’ve kinda met their match because they ultimately both don’t care about anything,” Plaza recounted. That was the beauty of Parks and Rec — that even the most unlikely pairings could find common ground. April is supposed to be the rude young adult, fresh off high school, who’s always on her phone and doesn’t like having responsibilities. You would think a man like Ron — who rejects everything remotely related to modernity — would not find her pleasant to be around, but their shared hatred for human interaction quickly makes them each other’s favorite office friend.

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Francisca Tinoco

Francisca is a pop culture enthusiast and film expert. Her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences from Nova University in Portugal and Master’s Degree in Film Studies from Oxfrord Brookes University in the UK have allowed her to combine her love for writing with her love for the movies. She’s a freelance writer and content creator, working in both the English and Portuguese languages in various platforms, including WGTC.