Are Amy Poehler And Nick Offerman From Parks And Recreation Friends In Real Life?

Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) have one of the most humorous and heartwarming friendships on "Parks and Recreation." Perhaps this is in part because their friendship seems so unlikely, yet it develops and persists anyways. Ron starts as Leslie's boss, and the two are almost polar opposites. Whereas Ron thinks the government is useless (even though he works for it), Leslie is obsessed with democracy, and all of her heroes are political figures. Furthermore, Ron keeps to himself and is often seen as cold and evasive, whereas Leslie is loud, enthusiastic, and extremely friendly.

Leslie seems like the kind of person Ron would typically hate, and at times during the series, they do hate each other. When they disagree, their arguments sometimes get prolonged unnecessarily because they are both incredibly stubborn. However, they ultimately reconcile because of their thoughtfulness and the affection they can't help but have for each other.

In addition to working together on "Parks and Recreation," Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman also co-host the reality competition show "Making It," where crafters compete to win money. It turns out that Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones (Anne Perkins) are friends in real life, so fans may wonder if Poehler and Nick Offerman are, too.

According to an interview with TODAY, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman have been friends since the '90s. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they first met in 1996 in Chicago, where they were both involved in the comedy scene. 

Regarding how they became friends, Amy Poehler described something similar to what happened with Leslie and Ron on "Parks and Recreation." She told TODAY, "I had an amazing first impression of Nick because he was doing a play at the time." According to the actress, Offerman was portraying a Satan-like figure and looked awfully scary with his dyed hair. "Nick has an incredible range of the warmest giggle and the warmest person, but he can also look very scary and so I met him when he was scary. I approached him slowly, and we became friends."

Poehler added to The Hollywood Reporter, "He's pretty much the only actor I know who I would turn to when the s**t goes down." This should quell all doubts. Just like Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope are always there for one another, so are the actors who portrayed them.