Nick Offerman And Megan Mullally Share Hilarious Stories Behind Their Wild “Parks And Rec” Scenes

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally may be happily married in real life, but on Parks and Recreation, they played the chaotic and dysfunctional exes Ron and Tammy Swanson. During a recent chat with Ted Danson on his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, the comedy power couple looked back on their wild times filming the show and revealed some laugh-out-loud moments from behind the scenes.

Before Megan took on the infamous role of Tammy Swanson II, Ron’s seductive yet ruthless ex-wife, she wanted to make sure the on-screen chemistry with Nick was flawless. So, she took him out to the backyard for a rather unique “kissing practice” session. Nick recalls it fondly, calling it “violent, disgusting kissing,” a perfect match for their chaotic characters on the show.

Their first big scene together was about as wild as you’d expect. Megan shared how they were “desperately trying to get to this motel so we could get it on.” 

The Will & Grace actress, always committed to her craft, decided to take off her bra right before the scene.

“I was like, ‘I’m gonna take my bra off'” the Will & Grace alum laughed. “So I took my bra off, and they were like, ‘action!’ So he screeches into this parking lot and I throw my bra out the window of the car. We get out of the car, I slam the doors, run in, and I pulled my sweater off. They had to put like a dark circle to blot out my boob,” she stated.

A surprised director, Troy Miller, then introduced himself right after that take – which they ended up using in the show.

Their diner scene turned out to be equally chaotic. At one point, the crew told them to just “do whatever you need to do,” which led to the two actors wildly making out on the table.

Megan remembered, adding that they made sure to ask the extras’ permission first. “So we were like wildly like making out on the table. They had, you know, atmosphere people, as customers, so we were throwing food at people. We asked them first if we could do it!” she stated.

The energy must have been through the roof because Nick got so into his Ron mode that he actually pulled the real diner table out of the wall!

Reflecting on the legacy of Parks and Recreation, Nick revealed a surprising fact – the show wasn’t exactly a big hit when it first aired on NBC. Despite critical praise, the show struggled in ratings and was nearly canceled multiple times. “Young people now don’t realize that it actually was never a hit. It was critically well-received, but only later did it become a comfort show…We didn’t get awards. In fact, we were almost canceled every year. It was always a question mark,” she stated.