6 best Nick Offerman movies and TV shows
By Dan Selcke
4. Nick Offerman as…Karl Weathers in Fargo
Sporting a memorable puff of grey beard, Nick Offerman played small town lawyer Karl Weathers in the second season of Fargo on FX. Like a lot of Offerman characters, Karl is gruff and imposing, although he talks a lot more than most of them. Offerman effortlessly rattled off pages of blustering dialog without ever dropping his sense of comic timing. The scene above, where Karl bursts into a police station drunk, is a season highlight.
Offerman was so memorable in this small role that he got a Critics Choice Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. But ultimately, Offerman would find the most success with a role very close to home:
3. Nick Offerman as…Nick Offerman in Making It
Like I said earlier, Offerman is best when playing a version of himself, so obviously he’s a fit for reality TV. But not just any reality TV; he needed a reality TV show where he did what he’s best at: making stuff.
Enter Making It, a reality show that consists in large part of Offerman and his Parks and Recreation castmate Amy Poehler hanging out building things. It’s the perfect fit for Offerman: he gets to do what he loves while displaying the personality traits that have made me a successful screen actor, all in an environment he finds comfortable and familiar.
Offerman got an Emmy nomination for his hosting work on Making It.
2. Nick Offerman as…Bill in The Last of Us
It’s possible I’m acting on recency bias here, but Nick Offerman’s work as Bill on The Last of Us reached into my chest, pulled out my heart, and threw it against the wall where it exploded like an over-baked potato, so I have no regrets.
Once again, we see Offerman playing a man who is gruff, reclusive, and intimidating. This time, he gets to go on an emotional journey, to learn about love, and to end his life happier than he’d thought possible before. The role of Bill digs deep into the Nick Offerman persona, mining for pain and eventually pathos. If you only have one sitting to spare and need to see what Nick Offerman can do as an actor, I’d recommend you watch this.
He even gets to show off his comic timing in a couple of spots, like when he’s arguing with his partner Frank about Nazis in the government. I imagine by the end of the year, we’ll still be talking about this performance.