I grew up with my three siblings in a farm family in Illinois. My mom and dad are storybook parents and, looking back on it, I had an idyllic childhood. It was a very frugal environment; we provided a lot of things for ourselves. We did a lot of fishing, we built things, we all sewed and cooked. In a farm community you learn the importance of stepping up, whether it’s to drive somewhere or chop firewood or make the dinner. And that is a big part of your sense of self-worth. I was aware there were kids in town who had this incredible, perfect white bread, so beautiful they called it Wonderbread. And I had this thick rich mottled homemade bread on the farm. But as I grew older I realised our homemade bread was vastly superior. Now I wouldn’t change my childhood for the world.
I didn’t know much about career opportunities beyond my town so I had the freedom of just focusing on the most important matter at hand. Which was getting kissed as much as possible. Was I successful? Trying to maintain some semblance of humility… let’s throw it out the window – yes, I was pretty accomplished at getting kissed. But I was brought up in a very polite and decent household. Even then, though we didn’t really talk about the notion of consent, I was laughably polite in my dogged pursuit of learning the ways of the bedroom. There was a lot more please and thank you than the object of my affection would probably have preferred.
I think if you met the teenage me now you’d think I was a pretty swell 16-year-old. I understood the system pretty quickly. I was charming, I was smart, I was hard-working, I was a leading student, I was a leading athlete. On the surface I was a model citizen. Then at night I’d slip out and try some light vandalism or smoke cigars with my friends. My parents taught us about the importance of sharing and being kind and telling the truth. So the only way I could rebel was to try out lying and stealing. I saw TV shows with kids living in the fast lane and I had this ignorant side of me that wanted to try driving a Corvette with ladies in bikinis, or being intoxicated and ending up in a music video. I tried that stuff out until I realised my parents had it right from the start.
I grew up in a bit of a cultural vacuum. We didn’t even have cable TV. I had no access to any kind of counter-culture. I was always in school plays and I loved goofing around, trying to make people laugh. But it never occurred to me that could be a career. Then one day I happened to be at the best college in Illinois – I’d just driven my girlfriend for an audition – and while milling about in the hallway I met two theatre students. They explained that you could get a degree in theatre, then go to Chicago and be paid to act in plays. I was like, are you kidding me?! I’d heard of Broadway and I knew in England they put on Shakespeare plays but that was about it. So I decided there and then that’s what I was going to try and do.
The big break of my life was meeting my wife, [Will and Grace star] Megan Mullally. The love of my life. She turned me around and gave me a huge leap ahead in terms of growing up, and that made everything much happier. My most obvious big showbiz career break was Parks and Recreation. I got the part of Ron Swanson when I was 37. I already knew [co-star] Amy Poehler – we’d met at a house party years before, and we’d made friends. We immediately knew we were the same kind of clown and we could have some mischief together. I looked up to her as a legend of comedy and I never dreamed I would end up having such a powerful working relationship with her.
I met Chris Pratt many years ago, at a house party. We got to talking and I said, you seem really smart and funny and you’re just an Adonis. If things go right for you, you’re going to be a big movie star. Some people just have it. He’s a sweetheart. I’m just surprised it took as long as it did. He was always very good-looking but his slobbish inner Andy is very powerful. He was in better shape when we started the show, but he and I both gleefully put on weight. It was really fun, literally fleshing out our midwestern lifestyles. Then the Marvel universe came calling and it was, ‘So here’s your personal trainer and here’s your insane diet.’ That’s part of the deal, so they can make money from lingering over your delicious abdominal muscles.
