In “Parks and Recreation,” Nick Offerman plays the mustachioed parks director Ron Swanson.
Ron is Pawnee’s famously deadpan director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, despite believing that government should do as little as possible. He prefers woodworking, breakfast food, hunting, and avoiding public interaction. His libertarian views create an amusing contradiction: he works for local government while trying to make it smaller and less effective.
Offerman’s performance made Ron one of the show’s breakout characters. The character’s interests in woodworking and saxophone-playing also overlap with Offerman’s real-life interests, helping give Ron’s restrained personality a distinctive authenticity. Ron’s two ex-wives, both named Tammy, became another recurring source of comedy.
A common mix-up is confusing Ron’s job with Leslie Knope’s. Ron is the department director; Leslie begins as a deputy director and handles much of the department’s day-to-day work. Nick Offerman is the actor, while Ron Swanson is the fictional character.