‘Parks and Recreation’: Nick Offerman Shares How Ron Swanson Would Tackle Coronavirus

In times of increased stress and fear, it can be fun to think about how some of your favorite TV characters would handle the situation. With all the panic over Coronavirus, the internet can’t help but wonder how personalities like Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation would handle the event. Even Nick Offerman, the actor who played the staunch head of Pawnee parks department has chimed in. 

Nick Offerman believes Ron Swanson would be prepared for Coronavirus

The conversation started with a post describing how characters on The Office would handle the Coronavirus. Hint– Michael ignores the “work from home” memo because he thinks everyone should be together in a time like this.

The topic spread on Reddit, and by the time Offerman appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the discussion had moved on to other shows. Parks and Recreation comes from the same creators as The Office, and although it’s not a spin-off, they’re very similar since both shows are shot in mockumentary style.

So, it’s only natural that the conversation would easily transfer to Parks and Recreation. Meyers took advantage of the situation and asked Offerman the question on everyone’s mind: “How do you think Ron Swanson would be handling the Coronavirus panic?”

“I don’t think he would necessarily notice,” Offerman answered, and he may have a point. Swanson notoriously avoided technology, so he may not see the news right away.

But his co-worker, Leslie Knope would probably be in a panic. She would make sure Swanson was taken care of.

“But if he did,” Offerman continued, “Leslie would probably send him a missive or some sort of message and he’d just take his family to one of his cabins in the woods where he was heading anyway and they would just enjoy some fishing and some items from his garden until things blew over.”

Offerman finished with one final thought about the character. “When the s**t goes down, Ron is all set up,” he said. 

Nick Offerman is used to answering questions about Ron Swanson

After playing Swanson for seven seasons, Offerman is used to answering questions about the character. People are fascinated by Swanson’s unusual character, and Offerman knows him best.

When asked by CNET if people ask a lot of questions about Swanson, Offerman said: “They do, but they do so less and less.”

Being asked about a character constantly could get annoying, but Offerman doesn’t seem to mind. Although, he doesn’t completely believe that he’s the best one to ask. 

“I do generally appreciate being asked to answer on his behalf because that’s appropriate,” he said. “People often ask me to do something as Ron Swanson, and I don’t do that because he’s not entirely mine. Not only do I think it would be presumptuous on my part, but I don’t write him by myself. In fact, I depend on much smarter people than myself to write Ron. It would also, I believe, be illegal because he’s not my property.”

Offerman has a point. While he made the character come alive, the writers are the ones who created him, and they probably know him best. 

Nick Offerman has a new role on ‘Devs’

Although he will probably always be associated with Swanson, Offerman has moved on to other roles. Currently, he’s playing the character of Forest in the sci-fi miniseries called Devs. Forest is the grief-filled, CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company, and pretty much the exact opposite of Swanson. 

Where Swanson survived almost solely on steak and scotch, Forest eats micro-greens and wears a full beard. The new character embraces technology, where Swanson preferred things the old fashion way because “You can’t hack into a typewriter.”

However, Offerman believes there are some similarities between the two characters. “They’re both just under six feet tall, they’re both very affectionate toward their families, and neither of them suffer fools gladly,” he told Bustle. 

Now, the only question is, how would Forest handle the Coronavirus?