Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Jim O’Heir, parks and recreation

Parks and Recreation: Jim O'Heir on Series Book, Amy Poehler & More

Jim O'Heir spoke with us about his Parks and Recreation book "Welcome to Pawnee," working with Amy Poehler, the show's legacy, and much more.

It's tricky sometimes for an actor to play such an endearing and loveable character as a straight man, even if they might get picked on more than others at times as "the office punching bag." It became a surprise as character actor Jim O'Heir struck gold on NBC's Parks and Recreation, the mockumentary series from Greg Daniels and Michael Schur that ran from 2009-2015, playing Gerald "Jerry" Gergich, a married father of three girls who works at Pawnee's Department of Parks and Recreation. The actor, who appeared in all 124 episodes across seven seasons, spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest series book Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation, why star Amy Poehler led the ensemble cast to its series success, and his surprising fan interactions.

Parks and Recreation Star Jim O'Heir on His Wild Ride as Jerry

Bleeding Cool: What made Parks and Recreation so special, from how Greg and Michael structured the series to the cast chemistry?

The fact it was the two of them who knew each other so well. They worked in 'SNL' together, and then Mike went over to 'The Office' with Greg, and Greg figured out a hell of a way to run a show over at 'The Office.' That's what they brought to 'Parks and Rec,' the atmosphere they created. I've been on a lot of shows over the years, and nothing was ever like 'Parks and Rec.' When they had this idea and what was interesting in doing this book, I interviewed them and learned things I never knew.
I never knew that Amy wasn't the first one hired. There were so many things that blew my mind, but they initially brought together eight strangers, and we weren't all strangers, but most of us were and that's always a gamble. You never know what you're going to get, but Mike and Greg didn't do the normal process like they pitched who they wanted, and luckily, they were in the position to say to [NBC], "This is what we want because a lot of times it doesn't work like that."

You send them a bunch of options, then give network auditions, and it gets a little crazy. With the success of 'The Office,' Greg had some clout, and they wanted him to create something else. He said, "Here's what I got and the people I want." They brought in someone like Nick [Offerman]. He has been on their radar for years. When Nick auditioned for 'The Office' and didn't get it, they loved him. Mike sure put his name on his computer. They wanted Amy from day one. They knew it would be her as soon as they decided it was going to be a female to lead the show. Rashida [Jones], they wanted, too. They knew who they wanted for a lot of the cast. Not me; I auditioned for Ron Swanson, and I was one of the thousands of people who auditioned for it. Thankfully, they saw something in my audition that brought me back as Jerry.

Mike will tell you they had a "No assholes policy" around 'Parks and Rec,' and that meant from top to bottom. The writers' room and the set were a wonderful place to be, and it was all because of not only Greg and Mike but also Amy Poehler as our lead actor. She can set the tone; the number one on the call sheet has a lot of power. Amy showed up on that set every day, and there more than the rest of us. That's what happens when you're the lead, and she's in hair and makeup at 5:30 in the morning, and it's a lot. She was there, took care of us, and had a smile on her face every day. Even when life brings you some lemons here and there, once we were on set, we were there to do good work. The atmosphere was always uplifting.

What went into compiling the material for 'Welcome to Pawnee?' How did you decide where the cutoff was and is there room for future books?

[The publishing company can] do follow-ups, depending on how this one does; you never know. Some book agents out of New York reached out to me about doing this and it hadn't been on my radar. I said, "I don't know. I was there for seven years for every episode. I certainly have a lot of wonderful memories of the show. Is there a book?" They said, "Why don't we plan a two-hour session over Zoom?" Over two hours, they had me ramble, asked me questions, and I told stories. At the end of it, they said, "Oh, we have a book!" I said, "My first concern is I didn't want people to think this was going to be like a tell-all, dirty book of 'Parks', behind the scenes dark side of 'Parks, because for two reasons. One, I wouldn't do that kind of book, and two, there wasn't a dark side."

'Parks and Rec' was a gift; I can speak for all of the cast and say the same thing. I decided I wanted to do this book because this will be, pardon the corny term, "My love letter to the show." When it came time to start doing it, I compiled from season after season different stories. I have tons of pictures in the book that reminded me of different great stories. I met with Greg and Mike, then with [Chris] Pratt and a bunch of them. Their stories created more stories for me because these aren't just my memories, but they would stir my brain, and then there'd be even more memories.

To be honest, it could be triple the length it is now because you can only do so much. It was more work and time than I expected, and I've never done any type of book thing before, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Nick Offerman warned me because it's all about that deadline. Like, "Oh God, what do you need?!" Because "Well, they're going to be behind you." You get a deadline, and they want you to meet it. Technically, I turned in the book two weeks late, but as I found out, Tom, in the book world, two weeks late is like two months early. My panic about being done in time did not come to fruition, and everybody was thrilled. I got it in two weeks.

When it comes to the series' fans, how do they approach you? Does it feel like a frequently asked questions-type thing for you and your character in the series, or do you get catcalls from people shouting random Jerry-related lines at you to see how you react?

I get all of it. I get tons of "Dammit, Jerry!" every day. One guy, I was leaving a restaurant, and he yelled, "Thanks for ruining the Harvest Festival, Jerry!" (from the season three episode "Harvest Festival"), which made me laugh. That's hysterical and I yelled back, "It wasn't me! It was Tom (Aziz Ansari)!" Fans of the show would understand. I also get a lot of it because my character ended up with five different names: Gary, Jerry, Larry, Terry, and then Barry, during the Johnny Karate stages of the show. People will always ask, "What was your favorite name?" Or they'll call me by their favorite name. It was always "Jerry" for me because that's how I always knew the show was and how I was cast. "Jerry" always seemed right to me.

A lot of shows come and go. It's the nature of them. I've been on many shows over the years, you do your bit, the show ends, and that's the end of it. By some miracle, 'Parks' withstood the test of time, and we're still in syndication. We're on different TV stations, streaming, and still out there. People see us all the time and so I'm approached. My legacy forever will be Jerry Gergich, and I'm proud that's my moniker. Every day, I hear something different, like "Why did Gayle marry you?" My TV wife on the show was Christie Brinkley. Again, fans of the show will know there's a [season four] episode ("I'm Leslie Knope") where the doctor looks at the camera after my appointment and says, "That man has the largest penis I've ever seen." A lot of people are like, "We don't like Gayle with you, Jerry!" So, I hear all of it, but because Jerry was such a kind, loving man, the feedback I get from fans is also kind. It's always loving toward Jerry. People are wonderful.

I had friends in the business who get terrible comments and mentions online. Jerry doesn't, I really don't and that's nice. People come up to me all the time, and then my favorite is when people don't want to call me "Jerry" because they want to be respectful and say my real name but don't know my real name. You see them looking at their phone, which means they're going to IMDb trying to find my real name, and that always makes me laugh. In general, it's "Jerry!" "Dammit, Jerry!" Or that type of reference.

Harper Collins' Welcome to Pawnee Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation is available to preorder and release on November 19th. Parks and Rec, which also stars Aubrey Plaza, Retta, Adam Scott, and Rob Lowe, is available to stream on Peacock.

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